Civil society groups in Akwa Ibom State have urged the state House of Assembly to firm up the Akwa Ibom State Fiscal Responsibility Bill with provisions that will guarantee the independence of the proposed Fiscal Responsibility Commission, greater public access to fiscal information and sanctions to deter potential fiscal offenders.
In a statement issued at the end of a public hearing on the Bill in Uyo today, Tijah Bolton-Akpan, Acting Executive Director of Policy Alert: The Grassroots People Empowerment Foundation, said: “The proposed Fiscal Responsibility Bill has done well to create rules to guide public expenditure and promote long-term fiscal sustainability. Finally we can look forward to a rule-based system that will replace the current culture of executive discretion in public finance management which fosters corruption and promotes waste. However, we note that the Bill does not go far enough to guarantee independence of the proposed Fiscal Responsibility Commission and fails to stipulate penalties for offenders.
“These gaps may end up rendering the proposed Commission a toothless bulldog as we have seen happening at the federal level and in some of the states where the law is already in force.”
He added: “We also observe that the Bill is not strong enough on provisions to ensure proactive, mandatory and timely disclosure and publication of all government revenue and expenditure transactions. Citizens’ access to fiscal information is critical to promoting responsible management of public resources and passing the Bill into law without including such provisions will rather undermine the objective of the proposed law.”
Harry Udoh, Chairman of the state’s civil society umbrella group, Akwa Ibom State Guild of Community Development Advocates (AKGCODA), said: “We commend the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and his colleagues, especially the sponsors of the Bill, for rising to the occasion by initiating this legislation as a private member bill after years of delay from the executive. However, we must add that this Bill cannot succeed in isolation. There is also need to make haste on the enactment of a Public Procurement Law for the state as both laws are mutually reinforcing.”
Udoh also urged the House to ensure that the Bill is passed into law quickly and called on the state executive council to muster the political will to implement the needed reforms.
It could be recalled that the current bill was initiated in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly as a private member bill after unsuccessful efforts by civil society groups and other stakeholders toget successive governors to forward an earlier draft bill produced since 2010 to the Assembly.
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