Public Finance Management

The project’s goal is to contribute to the reform of audit laws and practices as a basis for enhanced transparency and accountability in PFM. It is specifically tied to advocacy, sensitisation and awareness raising, networking and capacity building for the enactment of Audit Reform Bills into law at the federal and state levels.

The activities so far include capacity building workshops which set out to build CSO’s capacity on the intricacies of the audit process as a part of the budgeting process. The workshops trained over 150 CSOs on audit reforms. The project undertook a clause by clause analysis of the federal Audit Bill and submitted the outcome to the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts. The analysis introduced best practices and sought to find remedies to the mischief in the existing law.

The Audit Policy Forum was held to bring together stakeholders in audit to review extant policies, address topical issues of concern, examine “where we are”; “where we are proceeding to”; “present challenges”; and “lessons learned from previous activities”. It brought together officials from the office of the Auditor General for the Federation, Accountant General of the Federation, Public Accounts Committee in the House of Representatives, professional groups in auditing and NGOs.

The project published articles in the print media in promotion of audit reforms. The topics of the articles include the imperative of a new audit legislation; auditing statutory corporations, commissions and agencies; follow up on audit recommendations; auditing of public accounts – the missing links; timeliness of audit reports; establishing the Audit Service Commission; auditing the privatisation programme; governance issues in public audit, etc. The media intervention increased public understanding and sensitisation on the contents of audit reforms. The way forward on national and state audits arising from this project has been collated and documented in an analysis titled “Higher Decibels of Accountability”.

The project undertook advocacy visits for support to the passage of the Audit Reform Bill to the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Auditor General for the Federation, Ministry of Women Affairs, Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives, and print media organisations. It also contributed to the public hearing on the Bill for an Act to make provisions for the Creation of the National Office of Government Performance, Audit and Accountability that was introduced into the sixth session of the House of Representatives.

At the state level, the project’s core personnel have drafted a model Audit Bill for Enugu State which is awaiting presentation to the State House of Assembly. The key achievement of this project is that in the 2013 constitutional reforms, the Senate and House of Representatives have voted for the office of the Auditor-General for the Federation and the States to be funded on first line charge basis as a charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation and the States. CSJ had sent a memorandum on this subject to Constitution Review Committees in the legislature. The Audit bill is still pending and CSJ is still engaged in lobby to have same passed.

The project’s goal is to contribute to good economic governance through the implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (“FRA”), enhancing transparency, accountability, popular participation and value for money in the federal fiscal system and specifically focusing on the strategic economic, social and developmental priorities of the Federal and State Governments.

The key objectives are to:

• Provide a platform for support and learning between Civil Society Organisations (“CSOs”), legislative committees and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (“FRC”) in the oversight of FRA issues;
• Engage Ministries, Departments and Agencies (“MDAs”) in the preparation and review of their Medium Term Sector Strategies (MTSS);
• Engage the preparation process of Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF);
• Build the capacity of civil society on the detailed provisions of the FRA and to support CSOs to improve on needed skills for monitoring, reporting and evaluating the implementation of the FRA;
• Monitor, report and engage in action advocacy for the implementation of the FRA;
• Raise public awareness and sensitisation on the FRA through the media;
• Advocate for the enactment of Fiscal Responsibility Laws in states that are yet to enact the law.

Activities so far include capacity building workshops held in Abuja, Kaduna and Owerri in 2009 which trained over 120 CSO representatives.
In 2011, it undertook fiscal forums in Gombe, Sokoto, Makurdi and Owerri to sensitise the public on the provisions of the FRA. In 2012, fiscal forums were held in Lagos, Calabar and Enugu while in 2013, fiscal sessions were held in Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Sokoto, Makurdi, Owerri and Gombe.
The University Outreach component has led to lectures on fiscal governance for students from different faculties at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, University of Calabar, Anambra State University, Benue State University, Othman Dan Fodio University and the University of Ibadan.
A manual for the monitoring of the FRA (Fiscal Reality) has been produced and over 4000 thousand copies of the manual have been printed and distributed. The manual apart from containing monitoring strategies also contains a monitoring checklist. A newsletter “Fiscal Update” is published on a biannual basis – it reviews the activities of government and its agencies and civil society in fiscal issues. The annotation of the FRA has been published as Fiscal Responsibility Made Easy.

In terms of monitoring and reporting, biannual and annual reports on the implementation of the FRA have been published. The biannual reports include “Irreducible Minimums”, and “Continuation of the Norm”, two annual reports – “Obedience in the Breach” and Sinking Deeper” have been published. The project has engaged the Central Bank of Nigeria for the CBN to use banking supervision as a mechanism for the implementation of the FRA. It conducted the first diagnostic study on the FRA which revealed the strengths, weaknesses and best practices emerging from the implementation of the FRA.

CSJ disseminates fiscal news and activities on a daily basis through our various cluster platforms (Email Newsletters, Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook). These platforms serves as a discussion forum on fiscal responsibility. The project also publishes articles in the print media and participates in electronic media discussions. The project engaged the FRC in the formulation of its initial work programme and has involved the FRC in all its capacity building activities. In collaboration with the FRC, it reviewed the provisions of the 2010 and 2011 Federal Appropriation Bills in the light of the provisions of the FRA. It further reviewed the MTEFs 2010-2012, 2011-2013, 2012-2014 and 2013-2015.

CSJ has engaged the National Assembly Committees on Finance and Appropriation. It organised the first FRA National Forum in collaboration with the House of Representatives Committees on Finance and Appropriation. The Forum reviewed the provisions of the FRA, implementation so far and best practices that have emerged and validated the results of the diagnostic study.

The project engages in public impact litigation for the enforcement of PFM laws. An example is the concluded suit against the President and Minister of Finance which relied on the liberalized locus standi provisions of the FRA 2007 to seek the constitution of the FRC. The suit facilitated the eventual constitution of the FRC by the President. The project sent a freedom of information request to the Minister of Finance requesting for the details of the statutory transfers in the 2012 budget estimates and followed it up with suit when she failed to provide the information. This suit is geared to facilitate transparency and popular participation in the budget approval process.

Other pending suits include the FOI requests:

•  On the Accountant-General of the Federation to make public the Annual Cash Plan for 2013;
• On the Minister of Finance to make public the Budget Disbursement Schedule 2013. This has led to the disclosure of the 2013 Budget Disbursement Schedule.
• Disclosure of the details of MDAs that harboured ghost workers and their numbers

At the sub-national level, the focus is on advocacy for enactment of fiscal responsibility laws and in states where the law has been enacted, the focus is the same as the federal level. To encourage states to produce fiscal responsibility laws, a draft model law on fiscal responsibility has been developed. The project’s core personnel did a clause by clause analysis of the Bayelsa, Anambra and Kaduna States Fiscal Responsibility Bills. The analysis was sent to their respective legislature. The project has also presented an advocacy paper on the need for a state level fiscal responsibility law to the Benue State high level retreat for members of the state executive council and the legislature.

The major thrust of this project is action research and knowledge based advocacy for mainstreaming pro poor and rights based approaches to budgeting.

The FRA is anchored on the need to give effect to the economic objectives contained in the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy (Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999). However, the economic objectives reflect some measure of governmental “social responsibility”. It is the commitment of this project to mainstream social responsibility into fiscal responsibility.

The project analysed the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 federal Appropriation Bills and made inputs into the 2008 federal Appropriation Bill. Civil Society Summits on the Budget are held to review budgetary provisions proposed by the executive before the legislature starts consideration of the budget and this is followed by recommendations and lobby at the legislature. CSJ championed the formation of Citizens Wealth Platform for promotion of public interest in budgeting.

The budget analysis has contributed to a great extent for the public opposition to questionable figures for frivolous expenses regularly inserted into the budget by the executive.

Other key activities of this project are the:

• Review of the SURE-P Framework and the publication of the study;
• Review of 2013 annual budget and its harmony with high level policy documents in Vision 2020, Transformation Agenda, MTEF, etc
• Review of the feasibility of 2013 annual budget for infrastructure.

Recommendations from these reviews have led to the submission of a Capital Budget Rollover and Continuity Bill in the House of Representatives. The bill seeks to roll over unutilized capital funds from a previous financial year in the next financial year. The project held an infrastructure dialogue in 2013 involving key stakeholders in the executive, legislature and the private sector and the outcome has become a rallying point for advocacy. The project has produced a documentary “Budgeting Against  Development” which interrogates current budgeting templates and reaffirms the need for people centred budgeting.

The project has published the Capital Budget Pull-outs on a geopolitical zone basis for the years 2012 and 2013. The Pull-outs are used for capital budget tracking by CSOs at the state and zonal level. The pullouts are handy and easy to use by state level and local CSOs and CBOs. The result has been that more CSOs are engaged in project monitoring and turning in their reports to the secretariat of the CWP at CSJ. Also, studies have been undertaken on education and health provisions of the budget and their impact in the last five years. This is to inform evidence based advocacy.

As the lead group in the advocacy of the Stop Impunity Campaign, a Plan of Action to stop impunity in PFM has been designed, disseminated to stakeholders and the results are manifesting in increased demands for accountability and transparency in government.

The goal of the procurement intervention is to contribute to the emergence of a functional, transparent, accountable, value for money and gender sensitive public procurement system in support of Nigeria’s national development. This has led to the establishment of the Nigeria Public Procurement Observatory.

 The Objectives of the Observatory are to:

•  Build the capacity of stakeholder groups for the engagement of the public procurement system;
• Advocate for the passage of public procurement laws at the state level in some focal states;
• Monitor and report on the implementation of federal public procurement relating to agencies involved in Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);
• Raise public awareness and sensitization on public procurement reforms.
• Interventions to enhance the functionality of the procurement process

Activities so far include a series of capacity building workshops held in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 which trained over 300 CSO representatives. The project has collaborated with BPP in organizing over five sensitisation sessions on the PPA. A manual for the monitoring of the Public Procurement Act (Insisting on Due Process) has been produced and over 2000 copies of the manual have been printed and distributed. The manual apart from containing monitoring strategies also contains a monitoring checklist. A newsletter “Observatory News” is published on a biannual basis – it reviews the activities of government and its agencies, contractors and service providers and civil society in procurement issues. The annotation of the PPA has been prepared and published.

In terms of monitoring and reporting, biannual and annual reports on the implementation of the PPA have been published. The reports include “Half-Hearted Attempts” and 2009, 2010 and 2011 Annual Reports. CSJ has observed the bid opening process of not less than 100 MDAs over the past three years. The project has engaged the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Attorney General of the Federation through a suit at the Federal High Court on the need to constitute the National Council on Procurement. The High Court ruled against the Observatory and we have proceeded on appeal. The Observatory designed a Code of Conduct for civil society procurement observers which, has been adopted by the Bureau of Public Procurement. The Observatory conducted and published the first diagnostic study on the implementation of the PPA which revealed the strengths, weaknesses and best practices emerging from the implementation of the PPA.

CSJ disseminates public procurement news and activities on a daily basis through our various cluster platforms (Email Newsletters, Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook). These platforms serves as a discussion forum on public procurement . The project also publishes articles in the print media and participates in electronic media discussions.

The Observatory intervened in the proposed amendments to the PPA which sought to remove civil society and other stakeholders from the membership of the National Council on Public Procurement and to increase mobilization fees to contractors above 15%. In our collaboration with other stakeholders, the bill did not scale through the legislative mill. It also contributed to the preparation of the Procedure for Debarring Contractors and Service Providers by the BPP.

At the sub-national level, the focus is on advocacy for enactment of the law and in states where the law has been enacted, the focus is the same as the federal level. To encourage states to produce public procurement laws, a draft model law on public procurement has been developed. The project’s core personnel did a clause by clause analysis of the Bayelsa, Enugu and Nasarawa State Public Procurement Bill. The analysis was sent to the State legislature. The project also trained public servants in Cross River State on procurement reforms in 2010 and in collaboration with BPP has been involved in procurement audits across several MDAs.