Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja
The Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning has commenced close collaboratiion with the Federal Ministry of Finance to ensure the 36 states of the federation sign the Subsidiary Loan Agreement to enable them participate in and benefit from the $500 million World Bank-assisted HOPE Governance Programme.
The programme is aimed at improving service delivery in the basic education and primary healthcare sectors at the subnational level.
Permanet Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Deborah Odoh, made the disclosure when she received the HOPE Governance team from the World Bank on a courtesy visit to her office.
“We have been strategising with the Federal Ministry of Finance with the involvement of our Honourable Minister, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu. We will put in extra efforts to make it happen even faster, given the time constraints. We have a timeline drawn up recently to achieve this,” she said.
A statement issued by the Communications Officer, HOPE Governance Programmme, Joe Mutah, said that the permanent secretary pledged to provide all the necessary institutional support to ensure that HOPE Governance delivers significant impact across the country.
“I’m glad we are having this meeting, which is long overdue and certainly we are here all the time. We expect to see more tangible results and impact shortly,” she said.
The World Bank Task Team Leader, HOPE Governance Programme, Ikechukwu John Nweje, had earlier appealed to the permanent secretary to utilise all available channels within the ministry to engage state governments and secure the signing of the agreement, thereby enabling them to access funds under the programme upon verification of the Disbursement-Linked Results.
“However, you can help us to fast-track these processes, this will really be appreciated to get this programme up and running in terms of disbursement,” he said.
He stressed that governance remains a key challenge to improved service delivery in the basic education and primary healthcare sectors, which is why the Federal Government, in collaboration with the World Bank, has initiated the HOPE Governance Programme to address the issue.
“If the governance part fails, we will continue to have the same problems we are having on the sectoral side. That is why the ministers prioritised governance because they found out that governance is the issue in the two sectors that will help to unlock the ability to deliver results,” he stated.
Earlier, the National Coordinator of the HOPE Governance Programme, Dr. Assad Hassan, stated that the meeting was convened with the World Bank to apprise the permanent secretary of the milestones recorded and the challenges encountered in its implementation so far.
The HOPE Governance Programme is a $500 million World Bank-assisted initiative domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, aimed at promoting good governance in the administration of basic education and primary healthcare in Nigeria.