Civil Society and the Budget Process in Nigeria : Opportunities, Successes and Challenges

1. Civil Society and the Budget Process in Nigeria : Opportunities, Successes and Challenges Hilary Ogbonna Project Coordinator Budget Advocacy and Capacity Building ActionAid Nigeria/ADVANCE

2. Introduction • The Budget is a framework through which government provides for the welfare and the security of the people. • The budget satisfies political and social interests. • The Budget can also be a tool to measure government’s commitments to its local and international obligations.

3. Nigeria’s Budget Process: Political Context • Nigeria was under military dictatorships for 29 out its 47 years of nationhood. • Budget preparation and execution in a very large respect exclude citizens’ participation. • Civil society lacks the following skills that will enable them participate in the budgetary process: • Budget analysis • Advocacy

4. Nigeria’s Budget Process: Institutional Context • Current structure of Budget systems and processes in Nigeria do not admit for the participation of non-state actors. • The budget at all levels of government do not have direct links to the implementation of major government policies. • The National and State Assemblies lack adequate capacity and enabling environment to play oversight functions on the budget process. • The civil service structure (the back bone of the budget process) does not support a participatory, transparent and people-oriented budget.

5. Nigeria’s Budget Process: Legal Context • Weak Constitutional framework regarding the budget process. • Lack of adequate legal frameworks for: • Legally backed participation. • Budget calendar. • Budget ceilings for critical sectors.

6. Understanding Nigeria’s Budget Process

7. Budget Approval Budget Preparation The Budget Cycle Budget Implementation Budget Monitoring and Evaluation

8. Budget Stages • Identify priority areas for development and sources of • revenue; money allocated to priority areas. Formulation or preparation • Gets the approval of the law makers to generate revenue • from sources identified and to spend money on identified • priority areas. APPROVAL or ENACTMENET • Money is generated and spent as approved. implementation • Allows for monitoring and finding out as to how well the • money was generated and spent. monitoring or audit/evaluation

9. Budget Formulation • Major Activities: • Issuance of Budget Call Circulars. • Estimation of revenue and sources. • Formulation of Major Economic Policies and Frameworks • Drafting of estimates of expenditure • Major Actors: • Ministry of Finance • Budget Office • Other Line Ministries, Parastatals, Departments and Agencies • Civil society

10. Budget Enactment/Approval • Major Activities: • Presentation of Draft Budget to the Legislature. • Budget Debates in the National and State Assemblies. • Budget Defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies before the legislatures. • Approval of the budget by the legislature. • Major Actors: • The National, State and Local Government Legislatures (National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly and LG Legislative Council) • Civil Society • Ministries, Departments and Agencies

11. Budget Implementation • Major Activities: • Revenue generation and mobilisation • Award of contract as specified in the budget. • Release of funds (Note the roles of the MOF, CBN and Accountant General). • Physical monitoring of project sites/programmes • Major Actors: • Ministry of Finance, Ministries, Departments and Agencies • Accountant General, RAMFC, FIRS • The National, State and Local Government Legislatures (National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly and LG Legislative Council) • Civil Society, Media • Ministries, Departments and Agencies

12. Budget Evaluation/Audit • Major Activities: • Physical assessment to: • Determine value for money, • Prevent or reduce the impact of frauds and losses • Determine compliance or violations of financial rules and procedures. • Receipt of summary of revenue and expenditure • Ministerial Monitoring of the process • Major Actors: • Ministry of Finance, Ministries, Departments and Agencies • Auditor General, National Planning Commission • The National, State and Local Government Legislatures (National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly and LG Legislative Council) • Civil Society, Media • Ministries, Departments and Agencies

13. Constraints and Challenges in Civil Society Budget Work in Nigeria

14. Analysing the Access Principles • What are the Access Principles: • They are indicators used to highlight and measure citizens’ engagement in the budgetary process.

15. ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACCESS TO PARTICIPATION ACCESS TO JUSTICE THE BUDGET THE ACCESS PRINCIPLES & THE BUDGET

16. Access to information: • The ability of the citizens to obtain budget related information from the government and public authorities. Access to government expenditure and revenues and other policy documents. • Constraints: • The inability to access information as to the revenue of government including crude oil proceeds. (Note: Volatility in the Niger Delta and the Middle East have not helped citizens to keep track of oil revenues). • Access to budget document still remains problematic in most States in Nigeria

17. Access to participation: • Citizens providing informed, timely and meaningful input and influence policies (budget) from formulation to implementation and review stages. • Constraints: • Participation in the budget formulation is still very low. This is as a result of the attitude of public servants who still give an oracle status to the budget. • Auditing and evaluation of the budget implementation is still hampered as a result of the absence of enabling laws which will provide access to information regarding the utilization of public funds.

18. Access to justice: • Access to impartial arbiters to enforce access to information participation. • Constraints: • Absence of a legal framework to guarantee access to information relating to contract figures and funds releases. • Nigeria’s judicial system remains largely untested in citizens’ enforcement of the budget provisions. • Constitutional gaps reflected in ouster clauses still bars citizens from bringing certain forms of actions.

19. Other Challenges • Capacity: • Few organisations exist in Nigeria today that can do effective budget work especially in the area of advocacy and analysis. • Character of Some Nigerian CSOs • Issues around transparency, accountability and operations. • Inadequate Legal Framework • Absence of Donor Coordination

20. Survey on Challenges in Participating in the Budget Process Source: ActionAid Mapping of CSO Budget Work in Nigeria (2006)

21. Combating the challenges • Need to build capacity of civil society to participate in the budgetary process. • Advocacy skills to be imparted on civil society for people centered budgeting • Need to build capacity of media on budget reporting and analysis. • Need to strengthen public-private partnerships.

22. Celebrating Civil Society Budget Work in Nigeria

23. Successes in CSO Engagements • Capacity Building: • Presence of various capacity building initiatives across the country at all levels. • Development of effective methodologies to cascade capacity to community levels. • Community Movements for Budget Advocacy and Monitoring. • Engagement with major economic policies of government: • Participation at the development of the Medium Term Sector Strategies (MTSS) • Government has appointed a CSO representative in the MTSS Committee for 2008-2010. • Contribution into NEEDS -2 • Successful Partnerships: • CSOs have established credibility and have earned the respect of both the BOF and the National Assemblies.

24. Successes in CSO Engagements • Heightened government’s consciousness and interests in budget monitoring. • The Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on the MDGs – DRG Monitoring. • Last year, the Budget Office embarked upon a nationwide monitoring of projects with civil society representations. • Emergence of sectoral budget works: • ActionAid has pioneered citizens’ engagements with sectoral budgets especially in HIV& AIDS, Education and Agriculture. • Other CSOs including coalitions have embarked upon sectoral budget works. • Emergence of strong legislative advocacy efforts: • Civil Society Budget Hearing Sessions at national and some States. • The drafting of the Federal Budget Bill • Engagements with the FOI and the FRB Bills.

25. Current Opportunities • Democratic governance: • Opening of participatory space in the National and State Assemblies. • Improved access to budget information/data. • Election and Transition: New stakeholders • Huge crude oil savings/statutory allocations. • The Debt Relief Gains • Increased donor interests in funding budget work.

26. Huge increase in Statutory Allocations

27. Huge increase in Statutory Allocations Source: Federal Ministry of Finance

28. The ADVANCE Budget Advocacy and Capacity Building Project

29. OBJECTIVES • Build capacity of civil society to engage in the budget process through analysis and tracking of funds • Create space for civic engagement in the budget process. • Promote transparency and accountability in the budget process. • Enhance civil society and government partnerships through policy monitoring and advocacy • Build the capacity of the media in policy and budget monitoring through advocacy and reporting.

30. Outcomes • Civil society capacity to analyse public budgets built. • Civil society capacity to engage in budget based advocacy built. • Public – Private partnerships for an effective budgeting process strengthened. • Space for civil society engagement in the budget process widened. • Media monitoring and reporting of the budgetary process enhanced.

31. METHODOLOGY • Partnerships • Capacity Building • Advocacy • Publications

32. …Tools Development • Accomplishments: • ActionAid and PACT staff sensitized on the various capacity assessment tools of both organizations. • Capacity assessment tools developed for the technical capacity assessment of budget advocacy partners. • Budget analysis tools developed • Budget tracking tools for MDGs sectors developed. • Modules developed for capacity building in budget analysis and advocacy.

33. People Centred Budget Advocacy • Civil Society Participation in Major Economic Policies • Accomplishments: • ADVANCE facilitated civil society participation in the NEEDS 2 process. • Production of a Memorandum on the NEEDS 2 • ADVANCE facilitated Civil Society Summit on the 2007 Federal Budget. • Civil society engaged with the National Assembly on various sectoral budgets.

34. Strengthening Civil Society-Government Partnership for Accountable and Transparent Budgeting • Accomplishments: • ADVANCE pioneered the Civil Society Government Forum on Budget Implementation with 4 MDGs Ministries delivering up to date reports. • Civil society inputs in the framework MDGs costing in Nigeria from 2008-2015. • Facilitated the participation of civil society in the Medium Term Sector Strategies (MTSS) Process. • ADVANCE Staff nominated into the Ministerial Committee on the MTSS Process 2008-2010.

35. Capacity Building for Effective Participation in the Budget Process • Accomplishments: • The ADVANCE Budget Analysis and Advocacy Training (BAAT) Program launched. • Civil Society Fellows trained in advocacy, budget and policy analyses; Governance and Macroeconomic issues. • Media practitioners trained on the role of media in advancing people centred budget in 2007 and beyond. • Media reportage of the 2007 budget process.

36. Meet a BAAT Fellow • George Hill Anthony – National Coordinator, NDEBUMOG • Trained Legislators in the Niger Delta on Pro Poor Budgeting, funded by NDI. • Embarked on advocacy for the establishment of Due Process Office in Cross River State.

37. Media Investigative Reporter • Mr. Emmanuel Maya, a Punch Reporter who was trained under the ADVANCE Project acquired skills to analyse budget. • His report on squandering of HIV Funds won him the following awards: • Journalist of the Year Award in the Nigerian Media Merit Awards. • Investigative Journalist of the Year in the Wole Soyinka Awards for Journalisms.

38. Provision of External Technical Support • Provided Technical Assistance to the National Democratic Institute to train 20 staff of NASS on Gender Budgeting in March 2007. • Partnered with Project Hope and the EFCC to Train 30 Journalists on HIV Budget Analysis under the Fix Nigeria Project.

39. New Opportunities at State level • On the 2nd of May 2007, ADVANCE signed a one-year agreement with 4 State partners: • Focal States- • Kano – CISHAN • Rivers – CIRDDOC and CISHAN. • Lagos – JDPC & AIDS Alliance HIV & Health Agriculture & Education Education CISHAN & AIDS Alliance JDPC CIRDDOC

40. ActionAid’s roles • Providing Capacity in Budget analysis, advocacy and monitoring. • Developing models and tools for analysis, monitoring and advocacy. • Opening participation spaces for civil society in the budget process. • Creating linkages with government agencies and institutions. • Coordinating networking amongst partners and with a broader civil society audience. • Creating linkages at State, national and international levels for effective implementation of the project.

41. Emerging Opportunities • Possibility of the passage and signing of Sunshine Bills (FOI, Fiscal Responsibility, Public Procurement etc). • Imminent Constitutional Reforms. • Under ADVANCE: • Extending flagship fellowship programs to a broader spectrum of civil society and media actors.

42. Thanks.