TheCable

Enough is Enough (EiE) Nigeria, a civil society organisation, says the November edition of ‘Thursday Talks’ will examine procurement and expenditures by governments.

Thursday talks is a monthly online conversation that engages citizens and stakeholders on issues affecting Nigerians.

The conversation is hosted by EiE Nigeria in partnership with BudgIT and TheCable.

The EiE in a statement on Wednesday said this month’s dialogue titled: ‘Nigerians Shine your Eye on Government Spending’, will provide a platform for citizens to air their concerns and to constructively probe into the nature of spending within the Nigerian government and hold elected officials accountable.

“The abrupt removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria, occasioned by the purported lack of funds as claimed by the federal government has had negative effects on the Nigerian economy and in its wake creating a surge in inflation and other negative impacts among the citizenry,” the statement reads.

“In light of this, Nigerians have witnessed the continued bogus and extravagant spending across both federal and state levels of government whether it is the 2.176 trillion naira supplementary budget signed by the current administration or the 160 million naira earmarked for purchasing vehicles for each lawmaker in the national assembly, or the recent unveiling of the Public Procurement awards reported by the Lagos State Government for Q2 and Q3 2023.

“This month’s Thursday Talks conversation aims to provide a platform for citizens to air their concerns to constructively probe into the nature of spending within the Nigerian government and hold our elected officials accountable.

“We will lay the foundation of this discussion by focusing on how the government should take into cognizance the economic situation in their spendings and public procurements with a view towards cutting down costs.

“We will also discuss how the freedom of information act can actively be enforced by citizens and civil society groups towards making government spendings transparent and open across arms of government.

“We hope this discussion will encourage Nigerians to probe more into the spending culture of their various state governments and the federal government, thereby creating a more active and participatory citizenry.”

This month’s conversation will be moderated by Chiamaka Dike, features director at Marie Claire Nigeria; while Funso Doherty, Lagos governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the last elections, will be the speaker.

Other speakers include Ife David, senior programs advisor at Private Development Center (PPDC); and Olusegun Onigbinde, global director of BudgIT.