Kaduna, Kano, Anambra Boost Nigeria’s Participation In Open Government Partnership

Three states, Kaduna, Kano and Anambra, have signed up to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to implement transparency reforms.

In a formal letter signed by the governors of each state, they indicated their willingness to implement the open government reforms by committing to specific areas that fit their particular local contexts, Mr. Uche Igwe, Communications Adviser to Nigeria Open Government Partnership Secretariat, said in a statement.

Speaking on the development, the Special Adviser to the President on Justice Reforms and Coordinator of OGP in Nigeria, Mrs. Juliet Ibekaku-Nwagwu, expressed delight that states are coming on board.

According to her: “We are delighted to announce that three states have joined the OGP. In the National Action Plan (NAP), which is the procedural document that defines the scope of Nigeria’s commitment areas, a subnational pathway was defined in order to enable the states come on board and we are happy that this is happening. It is the easiest way to allow the reform efforts of this administration to trickle down systematically to the grassroots level. We expect that many other states will follow.”

Commenting further on the participation of states, anti-corruption activist and Executive Director of African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev David Ugolor, commended the three states that recently joined OGP.

Ugolor said, “states are closer to the people and it is important to engage at a level where governments can engage with citizens directly, especially on service delivery. If states begin to participate in anti-corruption reforms then there is a greater potential for improved results across the whole country.”

In July 2016, the Nigerian government signed up to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to promote fiscal transparency, anti-corruption, access to information and citizen engagement.

Out of the 36 states in the country, Kaduna, Anambra and Kano are the first-three states to formally sign unto the OGP. set of subnational pioneers to benefit from opportunities of peer exchange and learning from other implementing countries globally.