Kaduna state Government is launching a monitoring system that will allow everyone in the state to check on the progress of government projects through a simple, phone-based platform named ‘the Eyes and Ears project.’
Governor Nasir El-Rufai made this known while presenting the 2017 draft budget to the State Assembly.
According to him, with the mechanism, residents would be able to report progress or lack of it, to a dashboard in his office as well as the Ministry of Budget and Planning where quick action could be taken to address any anomalies.
“We are also using this to develop a database of credible contractors and a blacklist of the bad ones. We are using this platform to invite all residents of the state to be our eyes and our ears, to be vigilant in ensuring that what is promised is delivered, that what is appropriated is executed, and that quality and timelines are respected in project delivery,” he said.
GovernorEl-Rufai said the state was working hard to grow its Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) to make it less dependent on federal allocations.
“In June 2016, for the first time in the history of the state, we raised more than N1.6bn as IGR for the month. We are accelerating and broadening tax-payer registration. To further emphasize our determination to raise more revenues, we have notified all MDAs that we will be so strict on revenue targets that in 2017, the release of their budgeted overheads will be linked to each ministry or agency’s revenue performance,” he said.
