PERL- ARC, on Thursday 27^th July 2023, hosted a dissemination event for the launch of the Local Government Budgeting and Reporting Toolkit/ Reform Dialogue Session at the Abuja Continental Hotel. The toolkit was developed to address the challenge of inefficient planning and budgeting process at the local government level and promote accountability, transparency, and good governance at the grassroots. The launch also provided an opportunity for stakeholders to discuss and share experiences on the future of Public Financial Management (PFM) reforms, with a focus on making better use of scarce resources to support people-centered service delivery at the grassroots.

Representatives from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, World Bank, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Open Government Partnership (OGP), Ministry for Local Government of Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa states, and the Ministry of Budget and Planning of Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa states and civil society organisations were in attendance alongside several other esteemed participants who joined virtually.

The dialogue session on Local Government reform was quite insightful and was moderated by the National Programme Manager (NPM) of PERL-ARC, Ifeanyi Ugwuoke. The panel members included: Badamasi Musa, Director, State Planning, Planning and Budget Commission Kaduna, Mohammed Adamu Lema, Director, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Ministry of Local Government, Kaduna, Shuaibu B.S, Representative of the Accountant General of the Federation, Debbie Isser, Governance Lead, World Bank, Barrister Hari Bedari, Democracy Vanguard, and Mr Solomon Affun from the NGF. Rounding up the session, the NPM of PERL-ARC stated “Local Governments across the country need to invest in the requisite tools and resources critical to improving governance processes at the Local Government level”

In his closing remarks, Honourable Musa Shanono, Commissioner, Kano State Ministry of Budget and Planning, commended PERL “I am highly impressed with the quality of our discussions and the experiences we have shared here today are truly amazing. Thank you to PERL for organising the session and the opportunity to be here today”.