The Plateau State Government has kicked off work on the 2027 budget and is asking residents to speak up about what matters most in their communities.
The process started on Tuesday with a town hall meeting in Shendam for the Southern Zone. Stakeholders from Shendam, Wase, Mikang, Qua’an Pan, Langtang North, and Langtang South gathered at the Shendam Marriott Hotel to share their priorities.
Traditional rulers, religious leaders, women and youth groups, and people living with disabilities all took part. The idea is to make sure the budget reflects real needs on the ground, not just decisions made behind closed doors.
Before the meeting, the government team paid a courtesy visit to the Long Gamai, the paramount ruler of the Gamai nation.
Leading the team was the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Hon. Adam Bulus Lekshak. He said the exercise is about giving citizens a real say in how government money is spent.
“We want people to own this budget process by telling us what their communities actually need,” Lekshak said. “This is how we make governance more open, accountable, and sustainable.”
He announced that the 2027 budget process officially starts with this engagement. After this, the ministry will work on the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, collect submissions from MDAs, and hold talks with civil society groups before sending the draft budget to the State House of Assembly.
Lekshak stressed that all projects proposed must fit into Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s “Time is Now” agenda. The seven focus areas are: good governance and citizen participation, peace and security, agriculture and rural transformation, education and human capital development, healthcare and tourism, infrastructure and industrialisation, and taxation and investment.
As a member of the Open Government Partnership, Plateau is also pushing for more transparency in how public funds are managed. Lekshak said the town hall is one of the key deliverables under the state’s OGP action plan.
He praised the Mutfwang administration for pushing ahead with projects despite tight resources, pointing to road construction, salary and pension payments, subsidised fertilizer for farmers, and efforts to improve security.
The ministry’s Director of Budget Planning, Mr. Yusuf Bot, also gave a breakdown of how the 2026 budget has performed so far to help citizens make informed input.
Stakeholders were urged to take ownership of projects in their areas to ensure they are well executed and completed on time. Civil society groups were present to monitor the process and keep things transparent.
