CSOs ENGAGE LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT ON Y2013 BUDGET VIA TWEET CONFERENCE
The Lagos state Civil Society Partnership (LACSOP) in line with its citizens' engagement project aimed at strengthening leadership and accountability in governance plans to hold a tweet conference on the 2013 Lagos State budget on Tuesday 19 February 2013 on the LACSOP twitter account –twitter.com/LACSOP using Hashtag #LAGBUDGET. The engagement is designed to provide opportunity for stakeholders in Lagos to seek clarification through virtual dialogue on the specific direction of the 2013 budget of the state.
The event, which is supported by the State Accountability and Voice Initiative (SAVI), a programme of the Department for International Department (DFID), is the first of its kind in the state. It will attract media representatives and a large number of civil society organizations in Lagos state. The tweets will feature raising salient points on the Lagos State 2013 budget and task representatives of the government to respond to queries on the budget.
Shedding light on the conference, Barrister Ayo Adebusoye, Coordinator of LACSOP, said the citizens have to cultivate the culture of asking questions on how the government is running the affairs of the state since tax payers money is expended during budget implementation. According to him, the intention of the organisers is to open a dialogue channel between the people and government. LACSOP will provide needed information to enable citizens better understand the government's intentions and ask pressing questions. Representatives of the government on the other hand, will have the opportunity to explain grey areas, thereby promoting accountability.
State team leader for SAVI, Mr. Felix Obanubi, said of the project, 'SAVI is concerned with giving voice to the people, through advocacy partners like LACSOP.' He further explained that SAVI builds the capacity of the people to enable them understand their role as citizens and educate them on how they can participate in the process of governance and demand accountability from government.
The Lagos State appropriation bill totaling N499, 105,000,000, was signed into law on Monday 31 December 2012 by Governor Babatunde Fashola.