Chairman, Finance and Budget Committee of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu has disclosed that the legislative arm of the regional body will intensify its oversight functions on the executive arm to ensure that the finances are judiciously and transparently used for the people.
Kalu made the disclosure while delivering his introductory speech as the co-chair at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Administration, Finance and Budget/Public Accounts/ Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research of the ECOWAS Parliament, under the main theme: ‘‘The Role of the ECOWAS Parliament in Community Budget Formulation and Monitoring’’ on Monday in Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire.
Essentially, the objective of the Joint Committee meeting is to enable Representatives to understand the ECOWAS Parliament’s role in the Community Budget Formulation and Monitoring, and to equip members with the requisite knowledge and skills to ensure prudent management of community resources.
Kalu who is also the deputy speaker of the Nigeria’s House of Representatives in his speech said that “This can only be achieved through meaningful engagements with key stakeholders, especially, the ECOWAS Commission and the Administration and Finance Committee (AFC), which is a statutory technical committee under the supervision of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers.”
Offering more insights on the budgeting process, he stated that it is a key skill for ensuring that community institutions like ECOWAS have the resources to execute programs, projects and activities that are in the interest of the member countries.
“Now that we have spoken on the importance of budget formulation, the next step would be to determine how best to achieve effective budget monitoring. As Representatives of the people of the region, we must champion the promotion and practice of transparency and accountability. The Community Levy should be utilised to impact on every individual in the society, especially those on the lowest strata.
“Thus, in line with our Supplementary Act, Parliament is required to regularly carry out oversight functions over the activities of Programme implementing ECOWAS Institutions and Agencies and adopt appropriate Resolutions. In other words, ‘oversight’ is an indispensable parliamentary tool that should be effectively deployed to secure the accountability of the Executive to the Parliament and the citizens in general.
“The Parliament has a critical duty to ensure that public resources are utilised responsibly and for intended purposes, by the Executives”, Kalu said.