Day EFCC tasked Ebonyi people on Budget Monitoring

Emeka Ibemere

Enlightenment and Re-orientation unit, E&R, of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, train moved to Abakaliki, Ebonyi State Capital on July 8, 2014.

They were on assignment in educating the residents of the state on the need to monitor the budget of the state and the need to be aware of what is happening in their states.

 The Unit perceived that lack of knowledge of budget and its tracking have resulted into the executives to be finger-lighted in the state funds and allocations.

According to the E&R of the Commission, the fight against corruption in public life would acquire greater traction if citizens show more interest in monitoring budget implementation.

This issue dominated the two-day workshop on Budget Tracking organized by the EFCC, in Abakaliki, last week.

In his keynote address, Osita Nwajah, deputy director, Public Affairs, who represented the chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde said the workshop became necessary because of the need to educate people on budget tracking and monitoring in the fight against economic and financial crimes.

He said the workshop was part of the prevention mandate of the EFCC, aimed at ensuring citizen’s participation at all levels of budget processes for better service delivery.

The Ebonyi State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters commended the EFCC for the workshop. He suggested that if budget monitoring was done properly, it would benefit every citizen of the State and the entire nation. 

Bashir Bello, one of the resource persons, in his lecture entitled; ‘Budget Monitoring and Tracking,’ explained that section 14 of the 1999 constitution allows public participation in good governance.

 He urged all the participants to take greater interest in budget monitoring, as doing so would enthrone good governance, accountability and development.  Dr. Oji Ogbureke, who delivered a lecture on; ‘Budget Analysis; Evaluation and Social Audit’, took the group through hands-on exercises on how to analyze and evaluate budgets using required tools. Participants at the workshop were drawn from community based organizations, Non-governmental organizations; Faith based organizations and staff of local governments in Ebonyi State.

 The two-day workshop which lasted from the 7^th to the 8^th July 2014 was attended by over fifty Civil Society Organizations, CSOs, Non Governmental Organisations, NGOs and Local government agencies in Ebonyi State.

Meanwhile, similar awareness and enlightenment programme was organized Last week, Thursday June 24 by the Enlightenment and Re-orientation unit, E&R, of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission,   but for the NSE and charged stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market to be transparent and operate by the rules guiding the market.

 Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, gave the charge at the Joint EFCC-Nigerian Stock Exchange Awareness Programme in Lagos at the floor of the NSE.

Lamorde, who spoke through the Commission’s Deputy Director, Public Affairs Osita Nwajah, on that day, observed that the Stock Exchange was the life wire of the ordinary Nigerians, who are daily investing in stocks and shares, and who must be assured that their investments are being handled with utmost integrity and transparency.

“The stock market is literally the life of many ordinary Nigerians. Other than the handful of employers and employees, who earn their daily living directly from the activities on the NSE, many Nigerians have their life’s savings invested in what goes on inside this building and they need to be assured that they have put their lives in safe hands. It therefore behoves every stakeholder-investors, brokers, dealers, regulators - to play by the rules guiding the market”, he said.

 Lamorde also appreciated the upward swing in the stock market, made possible by the new management of the NSE, led by Mr. Oscar Onyema. This development, according to him, accounted for a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, and EFCC signed with the NSE on October 4, 2013. He, however, cautioned the NSE, to be vigilant and address any weakness in its operations that could be exploited by unscrupulous individuals and groups.

The Joint EFCC-NSE Awareness Programme is a major component of the MoU between the two organizations. Through it, the EFCC is “seeking to enhance the capacity of NSE members and other players on the market, to easily meet their obligations under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004, among other laws relevant to the Exchange”. General Manager, Legal and Corporate Services, NSE, Mrs. Tinuade Awe, expressed satisfaction with the relationship between the EFCC and NSE. “Our relationship with the EFCC is excellent and we are proud of our MoU with it”, she said.  The awareness programme was attended by trading members of the stock exchange, top officials of the EFCC and NSE. They include, Mr. Ezima Akaninyene, Head, Advance Fee Fraud, EFCC; Mr. Femi Shobanjo, Head, Broker-Dealer Department, NSE and Mr. Godstime Iwenkai, Head, Monitoring and Enforcement, NSE.