The Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning on Monday urged Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to comply with the 2024 Budget Call Circular to avoid mistakes in their budget preparation.
Mr Ben Akabueze, Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, made the urge at the opening of a two-day training for MDAs in Lagos.
Akabueze said that the MDAs compliance to the circular would ensure early and effective delivery of the 2024 budget.
Akabueze said that the training was aimed at enhancing participants’ capacity to effectively use the Budget Preparation Sub-System of the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) in the budget preparation process.
According to him, the training, which is done yearly, underscores the ministry’s determination to enhance fiscal discipline and accountability in the management of public funds.
The director-general was represented by Hajia Hapsatu Mormoni, Director of Revenue and Fiscal Policy.
“The GIFMIS training programme serves as a platform to equip us with the tools and knowledge required to facilitate our budgetary processes.
“This technology-driven system enhances our efficiency, minimizes bottlenecks, and enhances accountability,” he said.
Akabueze said the importance of synergy and collaboration between various MDAs in achieving the development agenda of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
“It is imperative that we recognise the significance of our roles in aligning our activities with the aspirations of the Nigerian people and the development agenda of the current administration.
“To achieve this, collaboration and synergy between the various MDAs is paramount.
“We must harmonise our sectoral policies and programmes with the overarching National Development Plan 2021- 2025 and the specific programmes of this administration.
“We must ensure that our efforts are synchronised, resources are optimally utilised, and the impact of our collective work resonates across the nation,” he said.
Also speaking, Mormoni said the ministry was working to ensure early submission of the 2024 budget before December.
“Since we digitised our processes in budget preparation using the GIFMIS, it has proved effective, removing bottlenecks and ensuring accountability.
“So, this yearly training is needed to equip new and old budget officers of the various MDAs.
“Once they can prepare the budget and upload it on the GIFMIS on time, we hope to submit the budget by the end of October to give enough time for the National Assembly to pass it within the year,” she said.
Mr Ade Agbana-Titus, Deputy Director, Procurement, said the training would help improve their processes and reduce the time spent on correcting errors on manually presented documents.
“Before the integration of the GIFMIS platform, things were done shabbily.
“This training, which is done yearly, allows budget officers to be exposed to the processes and effectively use the platform.
“This will eliminate all the bottlenecks and allow us to present the budget in record time,” he said.
Agbana-Titus, Zonal coordinator for the training, said that the training would be carried out across the six geo-political zones and completed within two weeks.
One of the facilitators, Mr David Adeosun, a retired director in the ministry, urged MDAs to work within the 2023 capital and overhead ceiling pending the time when the figure for 2024 would be released.
“MDAs should adhere strictly to all sections of the budget call circular because it has highlighted what they require to have a robust, accountable, and transparent budget process.
“They should also work with the 2023 capital and overhead ceiling to prepare their budget on time because the figure for 2024 is yet to be released,” he said.
Adeosun also advised them to contact the Budget Help Desk to address any issue in their 2024 budget preparation.
The 87 budget officers from 20 MDAs participated in the training.
