DIG Foundation, Ebonyi launch 20-page guide for citizen role in budgeting
By Oswald Agwu, Abakaliki
Ebonyi State now has a formal guide for citizen participation in its budget process—a 20-page booklet unveiled Monday, March 23, at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abakaliki.
Titled “Ebonyi State Administrative Strategy for Citizens Engagement and Participation in Budget Processes,” the document was produced for the government by the Development and Integrity Intervention Goal Foundation (DIG) in partnership with the Ministry of Budget, Planning, Research and Monitoring, with support from the Nigeria Youth Futures Fund.
DIG Executive Director, Chief Oliver Chima Ajah, said the strategy addresses the lack of a sustainable framework, which previously left citizen involvement “at the mercy of various MDAs, with no documented steps.”
He explained that the initiative builds on the World Bank’s SFTAS programme and the Open Government Partnership, aiming to strengthen local governance in line with SDG 16, and acknowledged the defunct USAID-State2State project for grooming reform-minded actors in Ebonyi.
Ajah added that the framework consolidates the Community Charter of Demand (CCD) and dovetails with Governor Francis Nwifuru’s People’s Charter of Needs.
“Under this administration of Governor Nwifuru, over N17 billion CCD projects were imputed in the 2025 budget, while the 2026 budget has over N20 billion CCD projects,” he said, urging stakeholders and CSOs to use the guide to capture and integrate community priorities into state and LGA budgets.
Unveiling the document, Commissioner for Budget, Planning, Research and Monitoring, Mrs. Chinwe Okah, represented by Permanent Secretary Lady Rose Ibe, described it as “a practical framework designed to institutionalise, consolidate, and sustain reform initiatives that place citizens at the centre of governance.” She commended DIG and the Technical Committee for their professionalism and called on government institutions, civil society, the private sector and citizens to take ownership and ensure implementation.
In goodwill remarks, Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary Mrs. Mfon Williamson, Auditor-General Mrs. Agatha Ekuma, and Director of Planning Chijioke Ogbodo praised DIG’s effort. Ogbodo noted it has deepened government–CSO partnership; Williamson called the event “a celebration of the fruit of hard work” and the booklet “a working, living one.”
Lead consultant Dr. Ibiam Azu said the people-driven output would bridge the gap between government and the governed in fiscal policy formulation, urging citizens to study and apply its prescriptions and agencies to implement it without bias.
Also speaking, Governor Nwifuru’s Special Assistant on Community Engagement Paulinus Nwanchor, royal father Eze Sunday Oketa, and Association of Town Union Presidents Chairman Chief Augustine Akpu pledged to sensitise grassroots communities and mobilise them to use the framework in engagements with government.
