USAID State2State lauds Gombe SEC for ratifying MTEF, MEF
The Gombe field office of United States Agency for International Development Nigeria State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness Activity (State2State), has commended the State Executive Council for ratifying the 2025-2027 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the Monitoring Evaluation Framework.
PERISCOPE NIGERIA had reported that on Wednesday after the SEC meeting presided by Governor Muhammadu Yahaya, Commissioner for Finance Gambo Magaji, disclosed the ratification to journalists.
Magaji noted that the MTEF, which encompasses the economic and fiscal update, fiscal strategy paper, and budget policy statement, will serve as the basis for preparing the 2025 appropriation bill.
He noted that the monitoring and evaluation framework will help measure and assess performance across government agencies, staff members, and the Executive Council.
Commending the government through a mail received by our correspondent, the Gombe State Team Lead; Muhammad Abubakar, said the ratification shows that State2State’s interventions were yielding the much needed development.
Our correspondent reports that both frameworks were achieved with the support of State2State.
Abubakar noted that when reforms are implemented economic development would be enjoyed by the people.
The mail partly read, “We commend the Gombe State Government for implementing reforms being supported by the State2State Activity, hoping that the sustainability strategies being embedded in the interventions will be maintained, to promote the economic development of Gombe state.”
Validation of M&E Framework and Policy for Gombe State
Recall that on April 3, 2024, State2State participated in the Gombe State Monitoring and Evaluation Policy validation workshop with stakeholders led by the Gombe State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning. The M&E policy was developed with the support of UNICEF. It will guide the implementation of the Gombe State Ten Years Development Plan and Framework (Development Plan for Gombe State – DEVAGOM 2021 – 2030). In attendance were the Commissioners for Budget and Economic Planning, Commissioner of Health, Permanent Secretaries of Ministries of Local Government, Budget and Economic Planning, Internal Security and Home Affairs, and all the Monitoring and Evaluation of Directors from the priority sectors of education, health, and WASH. 53 participants (47 men, six women including one person with disability) participated in the meeting. At the end of the event, a small committee was set up to clean the validated document, finalise it, and make copies available for signing by the Gombe State Governor. Following the validation of the M&E Policy, State2State will conduct data collection and quality training for M&E officers in priority sectors from April 4-6, 2024.
From April 4-6, 2024, State2State conducted a training on data collection and quality for M&E Officers in priority sectors and targeted LGAs of Gombe State for 30 participants (Male 24, Female six) comprising M&E officers from the priority MDAs and target LGAs. The training was part of State2State’s support to the state government to ensure effective and efficient implementation of the State M&E Policy and Framework. The training was participatory adopting breakout sessions and group exercises. The training enhanced participants’ understanding of how the results framework strategy promotes evidence-based policymaking. It has also improved participants’ capacity on how to design and review data collection tools based on the prioritized key performance indicators from each of the sectors and ensure quality tracking and reporting. The M&E officers are to redefine indicator definitions for prioritised sectors and submit periodic reports to the M&E Directorate of the state.
