By Ibrahim Muhammad
The Dispute Resolution and Development Initiative (DRDI–DAG) has called for stronger fiscal transparency, improved budget performance, and inclusive citizen participation across local governments in Jigawa State.
The call was made by the Executive Director of DRDI, Dr. Muhammad Mustapha Yahaya, during the presentation of findings from a comprehensive research on Local Government Budget Performance, Fiscal Transparency, and Citizen Participation (2020–2024) at a stakeholder engagement in the state.
According to the findings, the research assessed six local government areas—Ringim, Kiyawa, Mallam Madori, Gagarawa, Hadejia, and Birnin Kudu—and revealed that they remain heavily dependent on federal allocations, with between 94 and 100 per cent of their total revenue sourced from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
Dr. Yahaya said the study exposed severe transparency and access gaps, noting that budget documents in most LGAs were not publicly available. He explained that researchers encountered systemic opacity, where access to fiscal information often depended on personal networks rather than institutional mechanisms—an approach that undermines open governance and erodes public trust.
Despite the challenges, he identified significant reform opportunities and recommended initiatives such as business premises registration drives and the establishment of Ward Budget Committees across LGAs.
He further urged LGAs to strengthen their Grants Management Units, introduce Youth Budget Forums, revive Capital Development Funds, increase social sector allocations, pilot participatory budgeting assemblies, and launch emergency revenue diversification initiatives.
Other recommendations included conducting personnel audits, introducing traditional council budget interfaces, piloting property tax schemes, and forming joint legislative–community oversight teams.
To address systemic fiscal and governance issues, Dr. Yahaya said DRDI–DAG is proposing strategic reforms, including the adoption of performance-based grants, realistic revenue forecasting guidelines, quarterly budget performance reviews chaired by LGA chairpersons, the establishment of Fiscal Responsibility Committees, and the standardization of budget templates across LGAs.
“At DRDI, we believe Jigawa’s local governments can only deliver meaningful development when community participation is institutionalised,” he said, calling on LGAs to legislate participatory budgeting and launch “Know Your LGA Budget” campaigns in local languages.
He also advocated the creation of Ward Development Charters, training of finance officers on modern revenue systems, and the deployment of digital transparency portals to enhance fiscal reporting and citizen monitoring.
Dr. Yahaya urged the Jigawa State Government to approve and fund the LGA Fiscal Sustainability Plan, institutionalise participatory budgeting guidelines across LGAs, and establish a State–LGA Joint Technical Committee for fiscal oversight.
He appealed to local government chairpersons to implement the recommended reforms, personally lead community budget engagements, and publish quarterly performance reports.
Development partners were also encouraged to support capacity-building in revenue and project management, fund digital governance initiatives, and sponsor peer-learning exchanges with model LGAs in other states.
Similarly, civil society groups and communities were urged to actively participate in budget consultations and oversight processes, while the media and advocacy networks were called upon to sustain public awareness and accountability.
Dr. Yahaya stressed that access to budget information is not merely a technical necessity but a democratic imperative capable of rebuilding public trust and ensuring that local governments genuinely serve their people.
He concluded that while the fiscal challenges confronting Jigawa’s LGAs are deep-rooted, they are surmountable through deliberate reforms, transparent governance, and inclusive citizen participation, enabling local governments to evolve into accountable and self-sustaining development engines.
