Abia Govt Engages Citizens in Buildup to 2026 Budget

In the buildup to the 2026 budget fiscal year, the Abia State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning has held its Citizens’ Engagement Forum, to seek input on how resources are allocated and ensure that government priorities align with the actual needs of the people.

Speaking at the forum in Umuahia, Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Kingsley Anosike said the present administration is committed to ensuring that its Budget reflects the needs and aspirations of ordinary citizens as against that of a privileged few.

Anosike said stakeholders including the Traditional Institutions, the Clergy, Youths, Person’s living with disabilities, and Civil Society Organisations were deliberately involved in the process to ensure inclusive representation.

“Last year, coming out of this meeting, we had an initial budget proposal of about 617 billion Naira, the governor, his excellency, Dr. Alex Chioma-Oti, expanded that budget, the initial estimate we gave to him, to increase it by 5% to accommodate the request that was made here. So we ended that last year with a budget of an envelope of 750 billion.

“Now, when we ask you what do you want, you know we cannot reach everybody in other states. So we randomly select interests across the population,.. we involve them so they can be part of what we do.

So the reason for this gathering is to ask you a very simple question. What do you want us to do? What do you want us to represent in next year’s budget that will speak to what you want? So that’s why we are here. You will be the only one that can answer that question.”

Contributing, the Co-Chair, Open Government Partnership (OGP) for Non-State Actors, Mrs Priscilla Ogbonna, stressed the importance of transparency and accountability in governance and called for a citizen-driven approach to budget planning as well as a feedback mechanism.

“The citizen budget should be simple in order to be effective. It should be accessible,” Mrs Ogbonna said.

“It should be designed in a way that an ordinary citizen will understand how public funds are raised, allocated, and at the same time, how it is being spent.

“It should be designed to impact the citizens’ daily lives. And it should also have a channel for feedback. And in that, I’m talking about a channel through which the citizens can ask questions and make inputs. And this will make it more effective.

“It will build trust between government and citizens. It will empower people to hold their leaders accountable. It will encourage citizens’ engagement in decision-making.”

And again, it will reduce corruption through transparency and accountability.

In his presentation, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Budget and Planning, Dr. Eric Egwuibe emphasised the importance of budget in government and citizens’ engagement before a budget is drafted.

Egwuibe noted that citizens’ budget gives everyone the opportunity to participate in the budget of the state, pointing out that the goal of the citizens’ engagement is to enhance transpancy.

“The goal is to enhance transparency, accountability and collaboration,
the participation allows citizens to voice thoughts on policies and programmes,” he stated.

Also, the Chairman, Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Linus Nto Mbah lauded Governor Alex Otti for initiating such a forum that grants citizens opportunity to contribute to what could be allocated in the fiscal year.

Eze Mbah called for the inclusion of creation of more jobs in the area of agriculture, making budgetary provisions for security in the rural communities and providing for adequate medical personnel in the primary health care centres in the state.