Journalists in Bauchi state have been tasked by the State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Aminu Hassan Gamawa, to hold the government accountable for non-budgetary implementation and performance in order to promote good governance.
Aminu Gamawa gave the charge during a media chat with journalists in Bauchi declaring that as members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm, journalists have the social responsibility to assist citizens to hold government accountable for development.
The Commissioner who declared that it is no longer going to be business as usual in the preparation and implementation of budgets in the state, also said that in order to effectively play the role of keen observers, there is need for journalists to uphold the ethics of the journalism profession in their reportage of government policies and programmes.
Aminu Gamawa who believed that accurate reportage of government activities will assist the government to deliver on its mandate effectively said that as a friend of the media having interacted widely with journalists particularly in the Western world, he knows the importance of the media in good governance.
He further explained that the media chat was initiated to share with the media practitioners, the achievements recorded so far by the administration of Governor Bala Mohammed and its plans for the future.
Aminu Gamawa added that journalists play a vital role in the development of the society and stressed the need for them to assist in the budget implementation and its tracking when passed into law.
He pointed out that: “It is my honour and privilege to welcome you to our Ministry, the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, also known as Planning Commission. I thank you for honouring our invitation to have this interactive session with you. In governance, we are accountable to the people, the only medium we can reach out to the people is through you the media.
“As far as I am concerned, our Ministry is in charge of policy issues, particularly on economic policies that will help to develop the state. We provide support to all the 85 MDA’s in the state to ensure their budget was monitored and evaluated,” he stated.
To this end, Aminu Gamawa said that the state government is working assiduously with development partners to reduce overdependence on the federation account for income to be able to execute projects and programs for the people.
He then declared that the move is to ensure a significant improvement in the generation of the State Internally Generated Revenue in addition to accessing grants from supporting bodies so as to enable the government to fulfil its mandate.
