DFID-PERL engages Kano village heads on budget and project monitoring

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As part of its series of  engagements with village heads on partnering Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and government agencies towards effective participation in budget process and monitoring of projects in Kano State, the Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) program Tuesday hosted a session with village heads from across the state on budget and project monitoring.

PERL is a 5-year governance reform programme funded by the UK Department for International Deveopment (UKaid-DFID) and the session with village heads was held in collaboration with the Kano State Ministry of Planning and Budget, Due Process Bureau as well as the SERVICOM Directorate.

While speaking at the engagement session, Yakubu Sabiu, deputy director in charge of budget at the Kano State Ministry of Planning and Budget said unlike in the past there was now an improved participation of citizen groups in budget processes adding that traditional rulers also had an important role to play in budget processes.

“Involvement of citizens groups in budget processes has increased citizens inputs in the process and it was as a result of the  people’s inputs in budget formulation that His Excellency Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje earmarked the sum of NGN4.84 billion (NGN10 million per ward) in the 2018 budget for the 484 wards of the state which would be used in executing development projects at the grassroots; the people of each ward will themselves decide what projects they want to be funded with the NGN10 million,” said Sabiu.

He therefore said traditional rulers and particularly the village heads had an important role to play in ensuring the judicious utilization of resources and blamed the failure of development projects at the grassroots on the non-involvement of the traditional institutions in the monitoring of such projects.