Minister says zero-based budgeting will block financial leakages

The Minister of Budget and Planning, Sen. Udo Udoma said on Wednesday that the Federal Government’s plan for zero-based budgeting from 2016 would block all financial leakages and bring accountability into government spending.

Udoma said this at an event to commemorate the 2015 Evaluation year declared by the UN as well as the inauguration of the Association of Evaluators, Nigerian chapter.

"Steps are being taken to review and update our long term strategic framework so that Nigeria can key into the 2015 sustainable development goals.

"We are embarking on the reformed budgeting /planning process by adopting the zero base budgeting policies driven approach for appropriating 2016 budget.

"Efforts are being made to block financial leakages through measures that include the operation of single treasury accounts to grow the size of government revenues especially from the non oil sources.

The Chief Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, UNICEF Nigeria, Mr Dennis Jobin said the 2015 Monitoring and Evaluation Day was one of the tools for good governance.

He said that the group had a mandate to create awareness on immunising children from diseases.

"Each year more than four million children die of diseases such as polio, meningitis, yellow fever among others,’’ he said.

Speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, said the commemoration of the day in Nigeria would promote nationalism and synergy between the federal government and other countries.

The speaker called on all the agencies of government to understand and appreciate the programme, adding that it would help in nation building and the realization of the FG’s 2020 development goal.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the aim of the Association of Evaluators is to develop a strong evaluation culture critical for young democracies.

Association of Evaluators is saddled with the responsibility of monitoring and evaluating programs that could move the country forward.

The commemoration event was organised by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning in collaboration with UNICEF and other stakeholders.