Following Kaduna’s Footsteps: How Adamawa Makes its Budget More Participatory

The state of Adamawa in Nigeria identified the existing gaps in governance as one of the causes of insecurity. It adopted open governance principles to bring the government closer to its citizens and curb service delivery deficits. Following the example of Kaduna state, a member of OGP Local where citizens participate in the creation of the budget, Adamawa decided to create a space where citizens could freely engage and voice what they want included in the state budget.      

To make this commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... effective, the state sets aside almost 2 billion naira ($4.8 million) in its 2023 budget to address citizens’ demands. 

FollowTaxes and State2State – supported by USAID – worked with communities and created a methodology that is helping citizens identify and prioritize needs, primarily focusing on educationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ..., health, and water and sanitationOGP participating governments are in a unique position to address many of the root causes of water issues, including corruption and poor quality, as well as lack of prioritization, access, equity, and.... This allowed communities to effectively communicate and contribute to local, state, and federal government budgets. Some of the projects determined via the participatory budget are the procurement of additional school furniture in a community school and the maintenance of hand boreholes in another community.

Including citizens’ needs and demands in the public budget empowers citizens to propose solutions and monitor them. It improves dialogue, fuels quick responses to local needs, and makes service delivery more efficient. It also enhances inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... because women, young people and other marginalized communities have the opportunity to express what they want the government to do that will directly improve their well-being.      

FollowTaxes will continue its work to improve public service deliveryTo ensure that citizens of all groups are better supported by the government, OGP participating governments are working to improve the quality of and access to public services. Commitments in this are... through open government principles, by making sure that all projects determined by the participatory budget are executed. We will also work to ensure that the projects that have not been selected as part of these participatory budget efforts are addressed in the state medium-term expenditure framework.