A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Ebonyi state Monday accused the state government of weak fiscal governance and lack of transparency.
The CSOs said these shortcomings led to the state’s failure to qualify for the $27 million World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme Performance-Based Incentive Grant.
The coalition, led by the Human Rights Volunteer Corps (HRVC) and Human Rights Action Group and Good Living Initiative (GLI), made the allegation at a press briefing in Abakaliki, where it called on Governor Francis Nwifuru’s administration to embrace accountability, improve public financial management and strengthen governance.
Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Prof. Joseph Agbo, said Ebonyi failed to meet key reform benchmarks in education, primary healthcare and public financial management required to access the World Bank incentive fund, making it one of the few states excluded from the programme.
He said the state did not meet critical deadlines for publishing key financial documents, including the annual budget, citizens’ budget and other fiscal reports, thereby falling short of the transparency standards required under the programme.
The coalition also cited reports by BudgIT, the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC), the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) and official state documents, alleging declining fiscal transparency, incomplete financial reporting, rising public debt, weak capital budget implementation, procurement risks and heavy dependence on federal allocations,” it said.