Ben Akabueze, Director General of the Federation’s Budget Office, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja during a training on budget preparation using the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System.

According to Channels Television, a two-day nationwide budget preparation training is being organized for over four thousand budget officers from approximately nine hundred government ministries, departments, and agencies.

Mr Fabian Ogbu, Director of Expenditure (Socials) in the Budget Office, represented Akabueze, who stated that the federal government under Buhari is determined to ensure consistent and timely preparation, submission, and approval of annual budgets as part of its Public Financial Management (PFM) reforms.

However, Akabueze lamented that MDAs do not thoroughly study the Budget Call Circular and thus make mistakes that could have been avoided if they had followed the relevant sections of the Budget Circular.

“The main goal of this training is to provide continuous learning to equip budget personnel with the necessary knowledge, skills, and tools to prepare and submit the 2023 budget,” he explained.

“It has been observed that MDAs do not thoroughly study the budget circular, and as a result, make mistakes that could have been avoided if they had followed relevant sections of the budget cycle.”

He also stated that the 2023 budget is being prepared in conjunction with existing federal government policies and guidelines as articulated in the 2023 Budget Call Circular and other relevant laws/regulations.

To address this, Akabueze stated that one of the training modules would cover key items and sections to look for in the 2023 Budget Call Circular.