Ebonyi : DIG, others call for enhanced Social Sector capital budget Performance

Nkechinyere Ewa-Okpara

Development and Integrity Intervention Foundation (DIG), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) implementing the USAID Green-The-Red project in Ebonyi State said It has observed persistent underfunding and unmet budgetary commitments in the state health and education sectors and calls for a redress.

It called on the state government to release 70% of budgetary allocations for health, education, and other social sectors before the end of 2024.

DIG said the state government should declare a state of emergency on the sector’s budget.

In a presentation by Green-The-Red Cluster on 3rd quarter Ebonyi State social sector capital budget performance on Monday, the Executive Director of Development and Integrity Intervention Foundation, Ajah Chima Oliver, said that the government was spending a huge amount of money in the health sector, but it is not a reflecting on the state capital budget expenditures.

He argued that most of the hospital equipment and consumables procured by the state government were not captured in the fiscal budget.

Correspondent reports that the Green-The-Red Cluster Project, as its name connotes, is advocating for increased budgetary releases for social sectors, especially the health and Education sectors in Ebonyi State.

Ajah noted that Abraham Children Foundation, Development and Integrity Intervention Foundation, Da’wah and Guidance Bureau of Nigeria, Faith Community Counseling Organization, and the Ebonyi Civil Society Network among others, were among the NGOs that tracked the budget performance for the quarter and it has also beenpublished inn the state website.

The Cluster called for transparency, accountability, and timely fund releases to address critical gaps in these sectors.

According to him, the Monday engagement with the media was to brief them on the 3rd quarter budget performance of the Sectors of interest, especially as it relates to capital budgets.

Ajah said that Ebonyi State has yet to meet the 2001 Abuja Declaration, which mandates that 15% of a state’s budget be allocated to health. Additionally, the state has fallen short of UNESCO’s recommendation of allocating 26% of the budget to education.

Noting that there was a poor budget performance in both sectors, with the Ministry of Health achieving only 5.6% of its capital budget by September 2024 and the Ebonyi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (EBSPHCDA) recording 0%.

While the Ebonyi State Scholarship Board exceeded expectations with 1069.4% of its capital budget, other education institutions, such as the Ebonyi State Library Board and Ebonyi Vocational College, posted 0%.

His words, “This engagement is to brief you on the 3rd quarter budget performance of the sectors of interest, especially as it relates to capital budgets.

“Ebonyi State Government is yet to fulfil the 2001 Abuja declaration of allocating 15% budget to the health sector over the years and never reached the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommendation of 26% budget for the Education sector.

“Again, Budget performances over the years are poor across social sectors; for instance, in 2022, the Ministry of Health achieved only 0.2% annual capital budget releases, EBSPHCDA and others had 0% capital budget performances in 2022. As of September 2024, the Ministry of Health has 5.6%, EBSHIA 8.8%, EBSPHCDA others 0%.

“This shows that none of the health sector MDAs had a pass mark as each MDAise is supposed to achieve at least 75% by the third quarter and 100% by December 2024.

DIG commended Governor Francis Nwifuru-led administration for the ongoing projects in Ebonyi and, however, observed that such spending should be traceable to the budget before being counted as a performance for the state.

“We recognize and commend Government for all ongoing projects; however, such spending should be traceable to budget before it can be counted as performance for
the state”.

“We call on Ebonyi State Government to prioritize items in the budget for all expenditures in the state and show commitment to support achieving 70% budget release for social sectors by the end of 2024.

“All social sectors related expenditures should be drawn from the approved budget, make social sector budget releases on the agenda of the State Executive Council meetings

“Heads of MDAs to commit to writing fund able Memos for consideration at Exco meetings”

Dr. Emma Abah a Cluster members appealed to the media to help raise awareness about the budget issue, calling for more coverage of the underfunding of these vital sectors and advocating for increased budgetary support.

“Media should enlighten the people on budgetary processes because most of the projects were not captured in the budget and do not meet the international best practices in budgeting.

The Ministries should follow up on their memo for approval after budget defence ” Abah said.

Dr Ibiam Azu, a development expert in health, urged the state ministries to align their activities with the programs and policies of the government.

Azu also urged DIG and other cluster members to present their findings to the government as the health of the people is a priority to the state governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru.

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