By Mercy Aikoye
The National Assembly is shifting its focus from merely passing budgets to ensuring that appropriated funds yield measurable public outcomes. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, emphasized that “it is no longer sufficient to pass budgets; the real legislative triumph lies in ensuring that budgeted funds lead to tangible public outcomes.”
Abbas stressed that fiscal transparency is essential for sustainable development and should be a democratic right, empowering citizens to participate in shaping public policy. “Fiscal transparency should no longer be confined to elite circles of technocrats and auditors; it must become a democratic right,” he said.
The House of Representatives has introduced initiatives to improve fiscal oversight, including performance-based budgeting and making audit reports publicly accessible. These efforts aim to tie allocations more directly to service delivery outcomes and promote transparency.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s representative, Senator Abdul Ningi, warned that government agencies must take legislative oversight seriously, emphasizing that refusal to honor legislative invitations is unacceptable.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Bamidele Salam, reaffirmed the committee’s commitment to ensuring public resources are managed lawfully and efficiently.
“It is our collective responsibility to ensure that public resources are managed in a lawful, transparent, prudent, judicious, accountable, and efficient manner,” Salam said.
The committee is working to combat corruption, impunity, and violations of due process in public financial management. Ningi emphasized that “without accountability, there will be no prosperity. Without discipline, there will be no development.”
The National Assembly’s efforts aim to usher in a new era of fiscal governance, where public funds are managed effectively and efficiently to achieve tangible public outcomes and sustainable development.
