Taraba State government plans to prioritise the people’s input and adequately reflect them in the 2026 budget to scale up grassroots engagement.
The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Danjuma Saigudu, disclosed this when he opened bilateral budget discussions with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in Jalingo, the state capital.
Saigudu said unlike previous exercises, the process would be decentralised with two separate meetings scheduled in each zone to collate the people’s contributions.
“The government cannot spend without a budget because it is a plan for development across the state.
“For the 2026 budget, we intend to meet with the citizens, and this time around, we are decentralising it. We will be having two discussions per zone to get input from the citizens to ensure their needs are captured,” he said.
The permanent secretary added that the bilateral discussions with MDAs were crucial to scrutinising proposals and streamlining them to align with the state’s developmental priorities.
He noted that the forum also allows the Ministry of Finance, Budget, and Economic Planning to ensure compliance with agreed-upon budgetary frameworks.
Saigudu urged the MDAs to be represented at the sessions by their accounting officers, who have the expertise to defend their proposals.
The commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Sarah Adi, represented by the permanent secretary of Finance, Douglas Kisaba, tasked the MDAs with presenting realistic and workable figures that would support a robust and achievable 2026 state budget.
