Joseph Odok|24 May 2016|6:11am
On the 31st of October the Cross River State Budget of 350 billion Naira was passed into law as a Budget of Deep Vision. It was rumoured that the governor went to the House of Assembly with a piece of paper which he read to the legislators. According to some member of the Cross River State house of Assembly, no document was given to them as a document during the plenary session. The governor's speech was thereafter passed into law without any document before the members of the Cross River State House of Assembly. This rumour seems to be confirmed because no one has made public a document of the Cross River State budget.
The budget is a public document and any transparent government define itself by making it open for stakeholders and experts to understudy and give appropriate advice to the government. Not only is the publication of budget a necessity for accountability, it also defines the focus direction of the government.
For months now, the State House of Assembly is yet to make a copy of the budget assessible confirming the suspicion of critics that the Ayade's government is a government of fraud. Besides the definition of the Ayade's government in negative light, the John Gaul Lebo led House of Assembly is defining itself as a House that conspires with the Ayade's government to kill the needed air for transparency. In fact the ineptitude of the John Gaul Lebo led House of Assembly cannot be underestimated. Could the John Gaul Lebo led House of Assembly just be poor in modernity or modern communication skills in our digital world of today? The fact that the budget has not been uploaded in any internet site nor social media questions the transparency of the Cross River State House of Assembly. The the quality of our legislators in its representation is seriously questioned by the non availability of a document as the Cross River State Appropriation Law. Could it be mere fraud and conspiracy with the state government? It is to be recalled that the budget of the federal government has been made available in the cyber space, Nigerians were made to see the errors in the budget, the paddings, the removed items in the budget and followed its history until it was eventually passed. Why is the case different with Cross River State Budget?
Of recent, important activities of the government of Cross River State are published in Cross River State Chronicles and bought over night by the government making the government of Ayade opaque to the citizenry. One of such document that was published and bought by the government was a document for the revocation of about 25% of Cross River State land for the Super High Way by the Commissioner for Lands and Housing Dr. John Inyang. The embarrassing scenario created a situation were people's lands were officially revoked by the government without notice of revocation. This act of secrecy must no longer be condoned in our state. We must learn to demand accountability from our Representatives.
It is worthy of note that the Cross River State Government has been known for it's media hype, in fact the government is described by most praise singers as a digital government. If the government be digital then why the secrecy around the budget? The government has been seen publishing unrealistic projects and even MoUs. Even unofficial visits to the government by private persons like Frank Ayade has made new headlines. The questions is why is the budget not made public?
If it be found that Cross River State House of Assembly did not have any document before it when it passed the Cross River State Appropriation Bill; it will leave so many dangerous consequences that includes the impeachment of the governor and the Speaker. Therefore to save face and for soft landing, I urge the state House of Assembly to make the state appropriation law public before legal actions be taken against it. The freedom of information invest citizens with rights to demand for public document and the budget is within the documents defined by relevant laws in the Nigerian Legal System as a public document.
Unfortunately, most gullible minds have asked me to go to the Cross River State budget department to look for the budget. A budget must not be looked for but be made available for all as a public budget . A stitch in time saves nine.
Joseph Odok
Is a University Don & Social change agent
