The budget implementation review workshop kicked off at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum Secretariat on Monday, November 22nd with the first batch of states which includes Benue, Ekiti, Kebbi, Kwara, Niger, and Zamfara State.
The aim of the workshop is to ensure that states meet up with the 2022 Budget in line with the National Chart of Accounts (NCOA). The Chart of Account is for all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of Government used in planning, budgeting, accounting, and reporting.
The objective of the toolkit is to provide States with a comprehensive and consistent set of instruments that will support upgrading the State Chart of Accounts (COA) to make them compatible with NCOA.
The standardization of the COA will in turn be part of the overall effort aimed at enhancing the attainment of minimum reporting requirement that is in line with international best practices which is a key result area under States, Fiscal, Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability Plan (SFTAS).
In preparing the budget, there are six segments that must be adhered to which includes Economic, Administration/Organization, Function, Fund, Geolocation, and Program.
Through this workshop, NGF and states seek to ensure that they pluck all loopholes made by the Independent Verification Agent (IVA) or NGF itself.
Participants of the workshop lauded NGF for its efforts and said it achieved what it intended to do.
Dr. Nyam Aondowase, the Director of Budget for Benue State said that it’s been a fantastic development and experience at NGF.
“What we have learned here has a lot to do with our budget. When we get back, we must put our budget in the right perspective,” he said.
Furthermore, he stated that prior to the budget workshop, their structure, implementation, and template were questioned by others.
The Permanent Secretary of Niger State, Haj. Ramatu Umar also praised NGF that the Budget Implementation workshop has been wonderful and they have learned a lot on how to prepare their budget in line with the National Chart of Accounts.
“We have identified areas where we need to align our own budgets with the chart of accounts. We have also identified areas that were not properly updated. We had to review and align the codes and figures,” she said.
Haj. Aishatu T. Usmau, the Director of Budget for Niger State Planning Commission said that going forward, they appeal to the NGF to get partners to support to make the process more seamless. They recommend software that would make the process better.
Kogi State was also present at this workshop. They were represented by their Director Olajide Samuel O, the Director of Budget for Kogi State.
He said the training has been great and the modification of the Chart of Accounts was perfect.
“My colleagues were able to catch up with the new techniques fast. Within the first few days, we were able to complete the template” he said.
Mr. Olajide added that his team is fully compliant without any issue of doubt.
In agreement with Haj. Aishatu T. Usmau, stated that NGF can further develop a template for financial reporting to make the process of Public Financial Management (PFM) perfect.
There will be four other physical budget workshops here at the secretariat. The first batch concluded on Friday, November 26th. The 2nd Batch would take place from the 6th-10th of December. The 3rd Batch would be from the 13th- 17th of December. The 4th and 5th batch would commence in the new year from the 10th-14th of January and from the 17th- 21st of January.
At the end of the workshop, NGF seeks to ensure that all states in the federation should have the same template which would make it easier for comparison.
In addition, states should all know how much Nigeria is spending on different sectors in the country.
The Permanent Secretary of Niger State Planning Committee, Haj. Ramatu Umar said that the experience at NGF for the Budget Implementation workshop has been wonderful and they now have a harmonized budget.
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Kogi State was present at the Budget Implementation Review Workshop which started on Monday, November 22nd. They were represented by Mr. Olajide Samuel O, the Director of Budget for Kogi State.
He said the training has been great and the modification of the Chart of Accounts was perfect.
“My colleagues were able to catch up with the new techniques fast. Within the first few days, we were able to complete the template” he said.
Mr. Olajide added that his team is fully compliant without any issue of doubt.
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