CALABAR– Kebetkache Women Development and Resource Center in collaboration with OXFAM has taken it upon themselves to build capacity of community men and women in various States of the Federation with a view to ensuring that programs, policies, projects and infrastructures by the government meet the needs and yearnings of the people.
Executive Director of KebetKache Women Development and Resource Centre, Emem Okon while briefing the media on Friday during the advocacy meeting on Budget Monitoring and fair taxation call on States with no tax flexibility for petty business owners to emulate the Government of Cross River State by ensuring small scale businesses and peasant farmers enjoy tax holiday.
Worried by citizens inability to monitor budget implementation, Madam Okon said the increasing percentage of the Nigerian population to access the benefits of most people oriented Government policies and programs owing largely to an obvious disconnect between government officials and those in positions of authority.
She disclosed that budgetary circle in Nigeria is gradually becoming more of an academic exercise that a planned spending pattern of government within a specified period of time and has become a mere academic exercise where every year we come to render figures and it goes on like that.
“At the end of the day when you look at the performance of the budget, or what we have been able to achieve through the budget, it becomes a total disaster”
She went further to call on social crusaders, activists and women organizations in the communities to voice out and hold government accountable for epileptic budget implementation and non-execution of budgeted capital projects across the country.
