A Cross section of traditional Rulers during the budget Consultative Forum
By PATRICK ABANG, Calabar –
Ahead of the December 31 dateline to have an inclusive bottom-top budget approach, the Cross River State Government has held a consultative forum for 2025 budget preparation in the Northern and Southern Senatorial district of the state
This action is to enable the government collect inputs from the people to form the budget document for the 2025 appropriation bill.
With over 50% fiscal performance of the 2024 budget for the current and capital expenditure, the state government is optimistic of achieving more and meeting the needs of the people in line with the financial guide document, the budget.
Addressing the congregation of chiefs, religious leaders, CSOs, NGOs, women, youth and opinion leaders, who were gathered at the Ogoja and Ikom council halls, the Special Adviser, Budget Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr Otu Otuita, said the engagement was to ensure that the budget office have the people input as regards to what form the annual budget of the state in the 2025 financial year.
“We can’t continue to sit in Calabar to decide what project should be done in different villages, adding that “the people in Calabar cannot know what the man in Ishibori or Ukelle or Obudu wants; the era of government deciding what the people want have change, rather the people telling Government their most pressing needs that Government can tackle in the year 2025, Otuita added.
He said the administration of Governor Bassey Otu is committed to do everything possible to prioritize the citizens’ needs within the available resources.
According to him, building a financial document that is the people’s budget, was in line with the administration philosophy of the people’s mantra, the people’s first agenda.
The SA maintained that, “without input from the people, there shouldn’t be a government, because in the first instance if you don’t have the people then there’s no leadership. Government believes that, going forward, the input of the people is very critical to the development of the state”, he said.
He outlined the 2025 budget policy trust to include upscaling agro revolution, reduce debt burden, enhance social protection and overhaul public schools.
He added that already within the 2024 fiscal year, government has earmarked on the construction of both urban and rural roads across the state, especially road networks in the urban towns of Ogoja, Ikom and Ugep and with a deliberate efforts to empower the citizens through agriculture
“Listening to the people, we can see that the government is very inclusive; seeing representation across different sectors, age bracket. With this, Governor Otu led Cross River State Government will be able to finance 2025 budget that will impact directly on the life of the people. Otu said.
In their submission, Chief John Ntaji, Chief Simon Ntaji from Ogoja, and Ntoe Boniface Ndome Ntui, alongside Clement Agbor from Ikom, identified critical needs that should be prioritized in the 2025 budget.
These needs include: Infrastructure development, specifically roads and electricity, access to clean water and healthcare services, quality education and vocational training for youths through the establishment of a vocational center in each local government area
They emphasized that addressing these needs is crucial for the well-being and development of their communities, and urged the government to focus on these areas in the upcoming budget.”
“What Governor Bassey Otu has done will go well into history, to be frank to you, I was surprised, it has never been like this before. This is the first government that has come and want the people to know what he wants to do and also want the people to tell him what is more important to them, not you coming to do any kind of project which is not beneficial to them”, they noted.
