Friday Omosola
Ondo State Government and BudgIT Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further ensure open budget and budget credibility for better service delivery.
In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Richard Olatunde said the MoU was signed Friday at the retreat programme for Political Office Holders and Accounting Officers at Mydas Resort and Hotel, Owo.
BudgiT Foundation is a civic organisation that applies technology for citizen engagement with institutional improvement to facilitate societal change, and focuses on maintaining an open budget.
The MOU was signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Princess Oladunni Odu on behalf of the state government.
Speaking after signing the documents, Princess Oladunni Odu, disclosed that the purpose of the contract signing was to showcase the transparency of the present administration in the utilisation of public funds and service delivery to the people.
According to her: “With the contract being signed, it would provide full disclosure of what the government is doing with public funds, budget preparation, procurement and implementation.”
She added that the new development is part of the transformation plans of Governor Akeredolu to ensure that everyone in the state has the opportunity of discussing what goes on in government and giving feedback on it.
Speaking, the Director General of Performance and Projects Implementation and Monitoring Unit (PPIMU), Mr. Babajide Akeredolu said BudgIT Foundation is an open governance initiative to make budget transparent and accessible to the citizenry.
He said one of the primary reasons the state government is partnering with the Foundation is to track the state’s budget to further ensure budget transparency and accessibility to the citizenry.
Babajide disclosed that the government’s collaboration with the Foundation would further ease project tracking and implementation for operational efficiency.
Read more: I will Decongest Apapa Port, says Osun Gov. Oyetola
Furthermore, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Pastor Emmanuel Igbasan, stated that the partnership would open new windows of opportunity for the state to further meet its developmental agenda and also craft a credible budget.
Igbasan informed the foundation that the state government is open and transparent with data.
