Kano Journalists,CSOs Tasked On Budget Tracking, Monitoring,Reporting
By Abdullahi Yusuf
Media practitioners and Civil Society Organizations(CSOs) in Kano State have been urged to venture into monitoring, tracking and reporting the state’s budget to ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of the estimates.
The call was made at a one-day capacity building workshop organized for media practitioners and CSOs on “Tracking And Reporting The Implementation of State Budgets Using The Simplified Kano State Public Financial Management Laws(PFMLs),” held in Kano on Monday.
While making the request,the Lead Facilitator of the workshop,Dr.Abdulsalam Kani, also advised the two groups to use the simplified PFMLs to be tracking and reporting the implementation of the state’s budget.
Kani said the objective of the workshop was to enhance the knowledge of journalists and CSOs in understanding and applying the simplified public financial management laws so as to effectively monitor,track and report on the implementation of Kano State budget and fiscal governing process.
According to Kani,the Rule Of Law And Anti-Corruption(ROLAC) supported the simplification of PFMLs to facilitate the process of budget tracking and reporting by journalists and CSOs so as to achieve transparency and accountability in the implementation of the estimates.
He said the journalists could use investigative reporting to find out whether funds appropriated for certain projects had been released and wether such projects had been executed.
He said the CSOs should embark on advocacy to track and verify such issues and raise alarm against any breaches of the estimates.
The Lead Facilitator also advised the CSOs and the media practitioners to verify whether time frames for budget presentation to the legislature are followed by the executive and disclose and violation as appropriate.
As part of the process of budget monitoring, tracking and reporting,Dr.Kani recommended that journalists should find out whether the citizens’ inputs have been captured in the budget or not,and disclose their findings to the public.
He also advised the two groups to attend the forthcoming public hearing on the proposed 2026 Kano State budget presented to the State House of Assembly by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf,to enable them make their observations.
In his remarks ROLAC State Coordinator, Mallam Ibrahim Bello,said the workshop was organized to equip the Journalists and the CSOs with the knowledge of tracking, monitoring and reporting the implementation of the state’s budget to ensure transparency and accountability.
Represented by Mallam Isma’il Bello,the State Coordinator said ROLAC is always ready to work with CSOs and the media to promote transparency and accountability in budget implementation.
Organized by ROLAC, the one-day workshop drew participants from the print and electronic media,as well as members of various Civil Society Organizations operating the state.