Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, yesterday, urged civil society organisations (CSOs) and other development partners to raise citizens’ awareness on the importance of participating in the government’s budgetary processes to promote transparency, accountability, and a deeper understanding of governance.

Bagudu gave the charge when members of Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Support Unit, led by its lead person, Ms Maureen Karuki, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

Bagudu, who is the incoming OGP State Actors Co-chair, said President Bola Tinubu remained committed to promoting transparency, evident through bold reforms, including the HOPE Initiative on Governance, Education, and Health.

He listed other reforms to include the foreign exchange market reforms, fuel subsidy adjustments, taxation processes to establish a simplified and updated tax system for easier compliance, and digitisation of revenue collection.

The minister said the consumer credit scheme will provide an opportunity for spreading payments on houses for private and public servants, alongside agricultural projects and manufacturing sector reforms.

He explained that in a constitutional federal system like Nigeria, democracy, particularly concerning the preparation of the budget, placed significant demand on the legislative body, along with the additional challenge of prioritising projects for their constituencies.

He said, “The citizens could be judgmental when there is no clear understanding of why specific projects are placed at various locations during budget preparation.”

Bagudu said it was crucial for OGP and other development partners to assist the country in informing citizens, through educated narratives, to ensure a better understanding of the government, its structures, and other nations willing to make difficult decisions to achieve a higher revenue-to-GDP ratio.

In a statement issued by the ministry’s Director of Information and Public Relations, Julie Osagie-Jacobs, Bagudu further stated that advocacy could encourage citizens to emphasise quality requests through their representatives to ensure their needs were prioritised in the budget.

The minister emphasised, “These are areas that can help to boost citizen participation in governance.”

Earlier, Kariuki announced that OGP was at its best when led and coordinated by the ministry.

She also stated that the visit aimed to seek the political will and leadership that the ministry could contribute to OGP, given that OGP experienced a significant leap when its office was situated within the ministry. She said they also aimed to collaborate in enhancing budget transparency.

Kariuki supported the minister’s stance that citizens’ participation in budgetary processes should be encouraged.

She said, “I want to see it demonstrated in the next Action Plan of 2025 – 2029. Fiscal transparency and citizen participation around budget processes ensure that budgets serve what benefits the citizens.”

The courtesy visit to the minister was part of the activities to commemorate Open Governance Week.