Jigawa team learn how to operate a State Bureau of Statistics (SBS) from Kaduna

December 03, 2017 03:01:09 PM Published by: PERL

The Deputy Speaker of the Jigawa State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ahmed Garba Maikudi, has given assurance on the passage of the bill that would establish the Jigawa State Bureau of Statistics. He gave this assurance during a peer-to-peer learning session between Jigawa State delegates and the Kaduna State Bureau of Statistics in Kaduna State.
 
The journey to the establishment of a State Bureau of Statistics in Jigawa State started around 2012 when the state, following the Federal example of the National Statistical Master Plan (NSMP), developed the Jigawa State Statistical Master Plan (SSMP). One of the action points of the Jigawa SSMP is to establish a State Bureau of Statistics (SBS). The process was supported by SPARC (DFID's predecessor programme to ARC).
 
In 2016, the Jigawa State Government sent a draft bill to the State House of Assembly (SHoA) to actualize its intention of establishing the bureau. Meanwhile, PERL-ARC, through its intervention and assessment on, “Facilitating effective linkage between central MIS (planning, budgeting and HR) and sector MISs for improved service delivery” noted the need to support the passage of the draft bill before the SHoA.

The visit, which was held between October 20 & 21, 2017, provided first-hand information on the structure, operations and the benefits of a functional bureau of statistics. The Statistician-General Kaduna SBS and his team made a presentation on the operations of the Bureau, while Jigawa State team also presented an overview of the draft bill that is currently before the SHoA for passage.
 
As a result of the learning visit, members of the Jigawa SHoA have made commitments that they will ensure passage of the SBS bill into law. The Deputy Speaker of Jigawa SHoA remarked that “in the House of Assembly we are assuring you, the Bureau of Statistics bill will soon be passed by the House”. The Deputy Speaker also drew the attention of the Executive to the need to make budgetary provisions for the establishment of the Bureau in the 2018 budget proposals. “The executives are the ones that have the power to provide the budget line for the immediate establishment of the agency”, he said.
 
The participants at the event included the Deputy Speaker; Chairman, House Committee on Finance; members of Jigawa SHoA, the Clerk and support staff of the House; civil society representatives; State representatives of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS); Head of Civil Service; representative of the Hon. Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning; Permanent Secretary, Budget and Economic Planning Directorate (BEPD); Director of Statistics BEPD; Director, Planning BEPD and other government officials from Jigawa and Kaduna State.