From: Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
The Anambra State Government has signed a contract worth N104 million with a multinational professional services firm, PricecaterhouseCoopers, to undertake a diagnostic review of existing budget traditions and machinery in the state civil service under the auspices of the World Bank-assisted State and Local Governance Reform Project (SLOGOR).
Speaking shortly before the signing ceremony, on Monday, Anambra State commissioner for Economic Planning, Budget and Development Partners, Mr. Mark Okoye, said that strategic planning is key to any state development objective.
Okoye regretted that prior to the inception of the Willie Obiano administration, strategic planning for future development of the state was lacking as previous administrations concentrated only on short term development plans, which according to him limited the state to ad hoc development objectives.
He, however, expressed hope that with the economic blueprint enunciated by the Obiano administration and introduction of Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) as a key tool in supporting budget reform agenda, Anambra will continue to witness enduring development long after the tenure of the present administration.
Okoye called on the multinational firm to use the opportunity of the training to provide a comprehensive and realistic framework for planning and management of public expenditure in the state. He expressed optimism that after the training and with the abundant human resources in the ministry, budget planning, preparation and implementation in the state would fall in line with best practices as obtainable in developed climes.
Present at the signing ceremony were, Barr. Emeka Ohuoha, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Planning, Budget and Development Partners who signed on behalf of the State government and the Project Coordinator, SLOGOR, Mr. James Ifekandu.
Earlier, the leader of the Pricewaterhousecoopers team, Dr Bert Odiaka had thanked the state government for engaging the agency in its budget and public finance management reform process adding that when fully implemented, resource allocation process would be better linked to the state government’s policies and programme priorities.
Under the agreement, the agency apart from reviewing the state budgetary system would also train planning officers and statisticians in the state as on the implementation of Medium Term Expenditure Framework, International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and Mid Year Budget Framework (MYBF) which major objective is to ensure transparency, accountability and prudent management in public finance.
Over 35 planning officers and statisticians across all MDAs are scheduled to benefit from the proposed training programme.