“In line with the Open Government Partnership (OGP), this administration is fulfilling all conditions that are necessary for transparency and accountability, including the aspect of OGP relating to the civil society organisations (CSOs) in the areas of budget preparation as it affects the 2020 budget which is being revised,” Commissioner for Finance and Planning Florence Oyeyemi told reporters on the sideline of the meeting with the CSOs.

“This is an avenue to discuss with civil society organisations to let them know what we are preparing and the figures we are proposing. This avails the CSOs the opportunity to make contributions for the government to better serve Kwarans.”

Those in attendance included Ajadi Ibrahim (Media Advocacy and Technology Centre (MATEC)); Mukaila Salaudeen (All Farmers Association of Nigeria); Bosede Anifowose (Small Scale Women Farmers in Nigeria); Pastor Ade Bodunde (Trios Human Development Foundation); Tosin Apiriola-Ajayi (Women Environment and Youth Development Initiative); and Opakunle Raphael (Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication).

Oyeyemi said the state is reviewing downward the approved 2020 budget following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and the plummeting price of crude oil which have both slowed global economic growth.

“We are revising the budget in response to the COVID-19 pandemic which is affecting global economy, including oil sector that is the main source of the federal allocation to the state. This has affected our projections and as a state we have to adjust accordingly,” she said.

“We will be focusing attention on healthcare, agriculture, water and sanitation, education and social protection sectors. We will continue with our plan on Innovation hub and Garment industry this year in order to create employment opportunities for our teeming youths.”

Speakers Pastor Ade Bodunde of Trios Human Development Foundation and Tosin Apiriola-Ajayi of Women Environment and Youth Development Initiative commended the present administration for opening up its budgetary process which they said was the first in the state.

“We used to be invited as observers during budgetary process in the past. I want to say this is the first time we are asked to make input into the budget rather than being mere observers. We appreciate that and we do hope that you will continue to be more transparent and accountable to rank high in Open Government Partnership,” Apiriola-Ajayi said.

The government had last year held a town hall meeting to generate input from citizens and civil society organisations as part of the 2020 budgetary process — the first of such in the recent history of the state.

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In what was a first in the state’s history, AbdulRazaq said he purposely scheduled the meeting for the school to let the top bureaucrats and government functionaries appreciate the need to allocate resources in manners that directly benefitted the downtrodden in the society.

The governor had earlier visited the school a few weeks ago to listen to the teachers and inspect the facilities there, apologising to the children and promising to quickly attend to their needs.

“Work has started, in line with our Iseya mantra. I’m sorry to drag you here; it is symbolic. This is necessary for you to understand that there are other people who have needs that we should meet. I want (the budget) to be more inclusive going forward,” he told the civil servants at the mid-year budget review session in Apata Yakuba suburb of Ilorin, the state capital.

The meeting was attended by the Head of Service Mrs Susan Modupe Oluwole; Chairman of the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KW-IRS); permanent secretaries; directors and heads of various government departments and parastatals.

AbdulRazaq told the bureaucrats that bringing them to the school was to ensure that budgets were made to reflect the condition of the people, and not a show of executive powers.

“I’ve been here before and I know they have needs. The pupils here don’t have access to very basic needs. They don’t have light. They can’t read. This is a trend across the state. Our schools are in bad states. This is why we emphasise the need to get basic things running first,” he said.

“The budget should be realistic. We should bring things back to standard. So, bringing you here is to encourage you to feel the situation here. It is not impunity. It is for us to understand the terrible state of things. It is to make you appreciate the situation here. I want you to appreciate the environment in which you work.

“We want to put basic things in place first before we move into big budget (projects). We will eventually embark on those (big) things but we want to put basic things in place first.”

He urged the top civil servants and wealthy members of the society to help the needy such as the special needs children and other disadvantaged members of the society.

The meeting was the second time the governor would pull top civil servants to the hinterland to have a feel of the condition of the people.

In June, the governor summoned permanent secretaries and other officials to Patigi, in Kwara North, following his visit to some schools and hospitals whose conditions he said were unacceptable to him.

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