Femi Mustapha
The Disability Community in Kaduna state has lauded the Speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly, Hon. Yusuf Idris Zailani for fulfilling the promises made to them during the Public Hearing on Budget recently signed by the state Governor, Mallam Nasir El- Rufai.
This was contained in a communique issued after the end of a review meeting on the approved Budget.
The communique jointly signed by the Chairman, Joint National Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD) Kaduna Chapter, Suleiman Abdulazeez and Convener/Head of Gender & Social Inclusion/Team Lead Community Participations & Engagement-CALPED, Stephen Waya, stated that the Disability Community agreed to pay an appreciation visit to the Honorable Speaker.
The Review meeting which was supported by Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) has in attendance members from JONAPWD, CALPED, among other stakeholders.
According to the communique,”The Disability Community will track, monitor, and evaluate 2022 budget performance of the Disability Affairs Board and report quarterly.
“The Budget Advocacy team will visit Partnership to Engage Reform and Learn (PERL) to officially appreciate the critical role played in ensuring the Disability Community demand charter informed the 2022 approved budget.
“Stakeholders agreed to involve more CSOs and Media partners advocating for the well being of Persons With Disabilities to join forces and ensure dividends of democracy get to the Disability Community.”
In his remarks, Executive Secretary of the Disability Affairs Board, Mallam Aliyu H. Yakasai commended CALPED for providing technical support to the Disability Community to analyse the State Draft Budget and articulate recommendations/demands in the past two years.
“The objectives of the meeting was to review the approved 2022 Kaduna State Budget and track presentation made by the Disability Community during the Public Hearing; to support and build capacity for the Disability Community to effectively engage the budget process; and to agree and raise a Budget Advocacy Plan that would ensure effective and timely implementation to improve service delivery for the benefit of the various disability clusters in Kaduna State.
“The analysis recommended an increase in the draft allocation for the Completion of the Ultra Modern Centers to the amount initially proposed by the Board.
“Also, during the Budget Defence at the Assembly, the Disability Affairs Board did all they could to defend the estimated N147, 000,000 budgeted for the completion of the ultra modern centre, which was earlier reduced to N88, 200,000,000.
“Upon review of the approved budget, it showed that the State government captured the recommendation as requested.
“The 52,800,000 has been reverted back to the Board as formally estimated and submitted to the State Executives.
“The budget tracking training and advocacy were conducted by CALPED and supported by PERL, this action had yielded remarkable results for the Disability Affairs Board, Disability Community, commitment 1,3, and 4 of the Open Government Partnership OGP Kaduna.
“The Disability Community agreed to track and monitor all capital projects under the Disability Affairs Board to ensure quality and Value for Money.
“The Disability Community formed an advocacy committee headed by cluster head to facilitate advocacy visits to key stakeholders to ensure the full cash backing on or before the second quarter.
“The Disability Affairs Board pledged to support and provide the disability community with the right information and necessary documents that would enable them to track and monitor the Ultra Modern Centers across the three senatorial zones”.
Meanwhile, the communique revealed they the Disability Community and partners will also to carry out advocacy visits to Planning & Budget Commission, Ministry of Finance, chairman House committee on Human Service and Social Development, on or before the end of January 2022 to ensure all capital projects allocated to the Board are prioritized in terms of releases and cash-backing.
