TheCable

Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house of representatives, says the legislature will ensure that the 2024 budget addresses the needs of Nigerians amid soaring inflation in the country. 

Abbas spoke on Monday at a citizen town hall meeting organised by the house of representatives on the 2024 appropriation bill.

The speaker said parliament is “acutely aware” that many Nigerians are “grappling” with several economic hardships and will ensure that the challenges are addressed in the 2024 budget proposal.

“As representatives of the people, it is our duty to ensure that the annual appropriation reflects the needs and aspirations of every Nigerian citizen,” the speaker said.

Abbas said the budget prioritises national security, local job creation and poverty reduction, while calling on participants to be fully involved in the discussions and make constructive criticisms.

“Your participation in this town hall meeting underscores the essence of democracy — the power of the people to engage actively in governance and decision-making processes,” he said.

“You are invited to closely examine the 2024 budget proposal as presented to the national assembly by Mr. President.

“Your contributions must go beyond mere criticisms to constructive and evidence-based suggestions on how we can improve the budget process and make the budget more responsive to the needs of all Nigerians.

“The town hall provides a platform for direct engagement between legislators and citizens, focusing on matters related to the national budget. This is crucial to enhancing the transparency of government spending.

“It also allows the public to be more informed about how public funds are to be used and, by so doing, build greater trust in government institutions.

“More importantly, however, this town-hall will allow the national assembly to understand citizens’ needs better and explore ways to address them through the budget.”

The speaker said the national summit on budget will not only be sustained, it will be structured to start before the budget is presented to the national assembly.

“This is critical to ensuring that the budget becomes the people’s budget,” Abbas said.

“We expect that the 2025 budget will be discussed at the constituency level to ensure greater inclusion and engagement with diverse stakeholders at the grassroots level.”

‘IT WILL IMPROVE PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS’ 

The speaker said the town hall on the budget will enhance positive public perception of government institutions amid “diminished public trust”.

He said public trust in parliaments and electoral institutions was lowest across 36 countries in an Afrobarometer study across 36 African countries in 2014/2015 on the theme: Do Trustworthy Institutions Matter?

He said a similar study, the Open Government Partnership, found that Nigeria provides few opportunities for the public to engage in the budget process.

“In 2017, it ranked Nigeria 13 out of 100 points in public participation. This poor ranking was due to the dominant role played by the political elite and government bureaucrats in the budgeting process,” he said.

“While some progress has been made since 2017, many traditional challenges remain. The most notable is the absence of functional government mechanisms that show how citizen input informs the budget-making process.”

The speaker said the town hall represents a “major step” in changing the narrative.

“We firmly commit to strengthening public engagement and seeking inputs into the budget process, starting with the pre-budget statement, executive budget proposal, budget debate through public hearings in the legislature, and implementation, monitoring, and reporting of the budget,” he added.

“In the last few months, we have engaged various sections of civil society in some of our core activities, including analysis of the MTEF and sectoral debates.

“This forum demonstrates our willingness to introduce and support feedback mechanisms and seek public input in the 2024 Appropriation.”

Abbas said the lower legislative chamber has taken the lead in facilitating greater citizens’ participation in the budget process, while challenging ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to do the same.