FG, OGP partner to reduce secrecy in governance

The Open Government Partnership Nigeria (OGP) is to partner with the federal government to adopt a globally acceptable framework to reduce all forms of secrecy in governance.

Nigeria joined the OGP in 2017 as its 70th member-nation.

National Coordinator of the programme, Benjamin Okolo disclosed this in his address at a training held to expose public officials and institutions into the workings of OGP on Friday in Abuja.

Okolo explained that OGP was about peer reviewing, learning and education of government functionaries on the need to ensure elimination of secrecy in governance.

He said the main objective of the partnership is to extinguish all enactments that legitimise secretive administration of government policies.

According to him, the federal government by joining the world body in 2017 is prepared to increase citizens’ participation in government decisions.

“OGP is simply aimed at enhancing transparency where all barriers that prevent the citizens from participating in governance are removed to increase the integrity of government.

“We have invited you to be trained to act as the drivers and reformers of the system. The trend now is that state actors and non-state actors have equal stake in the affairs of government and we must ensure that the government becomes more accessible to the citizens.

“The anti-corruption fight can best be won when critical government information on budgets, procurement and contracts are made opened for the citizens to evaluate.

“We are working toward the direction where all laws that stand the way of OGP like the Official Secret Act, CAMA and the Public Service Rules are amended to encourage open governance instead of negating it.

“The framework of the OGP is such the citizens formed the nucleus of the system. Where the citizens are not involved, then there is no OGP,’’ Okolo said.

Okolo however, said the government has since commenced implementation of some of the body’s policies on open governance, such as the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) geared towards open administration of government affairs.

Director-General, Ethics and Corporate Compliance Institute of Nigeria (ECCIN), Agaidu Chukwuemeka, said the federal government would count on the expertise of public officials to drive the policy to an achievable end.

Chukwuemeka therefore, urged participants to show commitment to the training, adding that it was for the public good and that the OGP if properly handled would eliminate citizens’ reservations toward government policies.

“The essence of this is to bring the government and the governed at a meeting point where trust can be built for the growth of the country,’’ he said.