The Federal Government has submitted the National Action Plan for the implementation of the Open Government Partnership principles at the 4th Global Summit in Paris, France.
The development is part of an ongoing effort by President Muhammadu Buhari to promote a culture of transparency and accountability in conducting the affairs of governance.
The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, who represented Buhari at the event, explained that the President frowned at how corruption has allowed the public resources originally made for development of the country to fritter away.
He reiterated the commitment of FG to do away with the culture of opacity through transparent management of public resources and responsiveness to the aspiration of his citizens.
Malami expressed the determination of his leadership to continue to strenghten public institutions in the country and to foster inclusiveness in order to regain the trust of citizens and stakeholders in the public sector.
The Nigeria OGP National Action Plan spans into four key thematic areas, namely: fiscal transparency, anti-corruption, access to information, and citizen engagement. The commitments were co-created through a robust collaboration between government and civil society.
To recount, “The OGP is an international multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving transparency, accountability, citizen participation and responsiveness to citizens through technology and innovation.
“It brings together government and civil society champions of reforms who recognizes that governments are more likely to be more effective and credible when governance is subjected to public scrutiny, input and oversight,” he said.
Malami, who is also the Co-Chair of OGP in Nigeria, noted that the Federal Government of Nigeria will work assiduously to ensure that all the fourteen commitments contained in the plan are realized within the timeline set in the National Action Plan.
The Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda, Mr. Edetean Ojo, who led Nigerian civil society organisations to the summit, commended FG for the bold initiative of joining OGP.
Ojo assured that civil society organisations, business groups and other non-state actors in the country will continue to monitor implementation process and provide the necessary feedback from citizens.
Also on the FG delegation are the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Ms. Zainab Ahmed, Special Assistant to the President on Justice Reform, Ms. Juliet Ibekaku, Director-General, Bureau for Public Service Reform, Dr. Joe Abbah as well as other top officials of government and representatives of the civil society organizations who worked together in the past six months to co-create the National Action Plan for open government in Nigeria.
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