Budget Readiness: FG Begins Training for 900 MDAs
The federal government has commenced training for 4,000 workers drawn from 900 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), expressing its resolve to ensure consistent and timely preparation, submission and approval of annual budgets in tandem with its public financial management (PFM) reforms objective.
The Director General, Budget Office of the Federation (BoF), Mr. Ben Akabueze stated this in Abuja, yesterday during the takeoff of the training of MDAs on the 2022 budget preparation using Government Integrated Financial Management Information System – Budget Preparation Sub-System (GIFMIS/BPS)
To achieve consistent and timely preparation, submission and approval of annual budgets, Akabueze stated that the BoF had already commenced a series of activities related to the process of preparing the 2022 Budget.
He said that these included a series of engagements and stakeholder consultations with key revenue-generating agencies, civil society organisations (CSOs), the National Executive Council (NEC), the National Assembly as well as the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
According to him, another key activity on the 2022 Budget Calendar is the training of MDAs’ personnel who will be involved in budget preparation adding that the main goal of the training is to provide continuous learning to equip budget personnel with the requisite knowledge, skills and the tools they require to prepare and submit the 2022 Budget in a timely manner.
The budget, he stated, is also intended to be in tandem with extant FGN policies and guidelines as articulated in the 2022 FGN Budget Call Circular and other relevant laws/policies.
He regretted that MDAs do not study the Budget Call Circular in detail and as such make mistakes that should ordinarily be avoided if they had complied with the relevant sections of the Budget Circular. To this end, he disclosed that one of the modules at the training this year will address key items and sections to note in the 2022 FGN Budget Call Circular.
The 2022 FGN Budget Call Circular, Akabueze informed, had been issued ahead of the training to ensure that all issues and questions that participants may have are adequately addressed during the course of the training sessions.
He stated: “For the avoidance of doubt, we have the BOF Helpdesk running at full capacity currently to take care of all queries and questions that Budget Officers may have in the course of the preparation of their respective budgets. Distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, we shall be training over 4,000 participants involved in budget preparation from about 900 MDAs. Each batch of the training programme is expected to take place over three days, with participants from the same ministry grouped together and categorised for different sessions.”