29 States Yet To Sign Into Open Government Partnership

 

   29 states in Nigeria have not signed in to the international mechanism, Open Government Partnership (OGP) an initiative devised to enhance good governance by promoting openness and curtail secrecy in government businesses and activities.

   The Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), Dr Otive Igbuzor  disclosed this while speaking at the South-West OGP learning and sharing session organised by Partnership to Engage Reform and Learn (PERL), a programme of UK's Department for International Development (DFID) in Lagos on Friday said only seven states have embraced OGP.

    Dr Igbuzor who is also a Partnership Facilitator DFID urged governors whose states have not signed in to the OGP to key into the initiative so as to reap the benefits of the global mechanism for good governance. He explained that the Open Government Partnership is an international initiative that provides a platform for reformers inside and outside governments around the world to develop reforms that “promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance”.

   According to him, "OGP is an international initiative introduced in 2011. Nigeria was formally admitted into OGP in July 2016. The National Action Plan was approved in December 2016 and the implementation started in January 2017. Kaduna state was the first state that signed into OGP at the subnational level." "At the moment, we have seven states including Kano, Ebonyi, Anambra, Niger, Abia, Enugu and Kaduna have signed into the OGP while Kogi, Jigawa and Bauchi have indicated their interest to sign into the OGP. We urge all other states to embrace and sign into the OGP", Dr Igbuzor explained.

   The Civil Society Adviser to the OGP National Secretariat, Mr Stanley Achonu said signing in to OGP would attract many benefits to the state and aid good governance.  "Good open government reforms can transform the way government and public services work, ensuring that they are properly responsive to citizens, while improving their efficiency and effectiveness, and preventing abuses of state power," Achonu stated. He charged members of the civil society organizations and the media in the state that are yet to identify with the OGP initiative to make necessary moves to encourage their governors to sign into the OGP without further delay.

  His words "This will ensure that ‘No One Is Left Behind’ and all the stakeholders including women, youths, persons with disabilities and all citizens and sectors are appropriately engaged. Civil Society Organisations and the Media is critical in working as partners and collaboratively with Government and other stakeholders to embrace OGP so that they are not seen as adversaries of Government."