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By Akanji Alowolodu, Bauchi
It has been revealed that in a new development, 26 states have signed into the Open Government Partnership in Nigeria out of the 36 states and Bauchi is one of the states yet to sign into the partnership.
This is contained in a Press Release by Open Alliance – Bauchi, calling on the State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir to as a matter of urgency, join the Open Government Partnership.
The release contained that Nigeria joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP) as the 70th country in July, 2016, a participation has provided opportunities for improving inclusiveness in decision making and horizontal communication among government agencies thereby reducing duplication and wastage of resources, strengthening relationship with civil society, and building stronger bonds of trust with citizens.
Many government agencies like the Budget Office of the Federation, the National Bureau of Statistics and the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation have leveraged on the political will of openness to deliver promptly on their respective mandates. Government has generally become more responsive to the feedback and concerns of citizens about government policy.
A community of Civil Society Organizations working to promote open and transparent society, believe that there is nothing that should hinder Bauchi State Government from keying into the OGP considering the capacity of the Government and the already existing fiscal transparency initiatives implemented by the State Government.
There is no doubt that this transparency structures have been contributed by the CSOs working on open and accountable governance, USAID State2State, Mamaye Evidence for Action, USAID RTI-Lead, USAID-NEIPlus and of recent, the SFTAS programme technical support by the OGP Secretariat in Abuja.
The Coalition opined that Bauchi state has met a lot of the criteria to have been part of the Open Government Partnership and make the number of states to be 27.
The Open Government Partnership (OGP) offers an important platform to engage in peer learning, experience sharing and exchange of information with other counterparts within and around the world to enable cross fertilization of ideas and policy.
According to the Coalition, Bauchi state stands to benefit a number of items if it joins the open government partnership which includes; Improved ranking of state in Global Transparency and Accountability ranking.
Also, reduction in cases of financial misappropriation, preferred destination for donor funds and foreign direct investments, improved trust between State and citizens and increased domestic revenue mobilization arising from transparent application of revenue Improved Service delivery.
There will also be a technical and institutional support that will amplify the reputation of openness 10 Global visibility and positive publicity.
“We, the Open Alliance Team in Bauchi is using this medium to request His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Bauchi State, Sen. Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed to champion the course of Open Government for the good people of Bauchi State and join the Open Government Partnership like the President did for Nigeria in 2016”, the release further contained.
According to the team, “This will be a powerful legacy that cannot be erased in the heart of the good people of Bauchi State. As a unique leader seeking for election to the highest Office in Nigeria, signing into the OGP will strongly add value and credentials to your already amazing ones”.
The Open Alliance being the coalition of CSOs working to advance the principles of OGP in Nigeria are always on ground in Bauchi State to provide support and guidance to the State when it wants to sign in to the OGP calling, “Bauchi State, sign into the OGP today, sign Transparency and Accountability in Government”.
