Bauchi  Urged to  Establish Fiscal Responsibility Commission

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

The Bauchi State Government has been called upon to consider the establishment of a Fiscal Responsibility Commission, as an independent agency with mandate to implement the Fiscal Responsibility Law (2008).  

This was part of the recommendation of participants at the just concluded three days capacity training workshop for top government officials organised by the office of the head of service, with support from USAID State2State Activity

The recommendation, which was contained in a communique issued at the end of the workshop, also urged the Bauchi  State Government to direct the relevant agencies to Fast-track the design of electronic database register system for the capturing of basic information on all properties that have electricity connections in urban areas for the purposes of property taxation by June 2022.

The document, which was jointly signed by the Chairman of the Communique Drafting Committee Dr. Dayyabu Chiroma (Commissioner for Information and Communication Bauchi State) and Secretary, Otabor Isaac (PFM Specialist, USAID State2State, Bauchi Field office) further recommended that the office of the Accountant-General should ensure that competent internal auditors from the position of an assistant director are posted for the conduct of the audit function to all MDAs in the state.

Furthermore, participants appreciated the effort of the state government in ensuring that proposed annual budgets are submitted to the State House of Assembly (SHoA) at least two months before the start of the fiscal years to provide sufficient time for consultations with constituents and other stakeholders to improve inclusiveness in the budgetary process.

The participants also acknowledged the continuous efforts of the state in clearing domestic expenditure arrears and implored the state to sustain the momentum and ensure that all outstanding arrears are reduced by at least 20 per cent annually.