Asaba – The Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations in Edo State House Assembly, Hon Lawani Damian, has charged civil society groups to create awareness on the need for citizens to have inputs in the budgets of their States and local government.
Hon Damian who gave the charge recently in a Chat with The Sunday Observer on the sideline of Niger Delta Open Budget Co-Learning Summit, at Asaba, Delta State, noted, “most citizens are not aware of their rights”.
According to the Member representing Etsako Central in the Edo assembly, “there is need for people to begin to work on their awareness and that is why i charge the civil society to engage the people for them to know that they have a right to contribute into the making of the budgets year in year out in a fiscal year”.
The lawmaker, while asserting that Edo state was already in compliance with all the requirements and standards guiding budget openness, added, there is need to constantly overhaul some of these rules and regulations on open governance.
Speaking on behalf of the organizers, Executive Director of We The People, Ken Henshaw stated, the summit was informed by the lack of key development in the region despite the huge earnings, adding, it seek to bring the States together to be at the same level of openness.
Henshaw affirmed, “we want to see a situation where it will be established as a practice that certain level of structure are put in place to to actively engage citizens in budget processes, to make sure they play a part in what goes into the budget and how what goes into the budget is delivered to the people”.
In the same vein, the Niger-Delta Open Government Observatory (NOGO) was unveiled during the summit at the Delta State capital.
In a statement jointly issued by Policy Alert, We The People and Social Action, at the unveiling of NOGO, Henshaw said the Observatory will function as a multi-centre walk-in and digital hub for promoting and monitoring open government activities in the Niger Delta region.
He said: “There is a widespread sense of alienation of citizens from decision making processes of government and the consequence of this is an ugly narrative of corruption, poor service delivery and deepening poverty across the Niger Delta. We are convinced that open and accountable government can lead to more inclusive development, efficient service delivery and less conflict in the region, hence the need for this Observatory.”
The statement also said that the Observatory will be involved in investigating and disseminating knowledge on the state of open government in the Niger Delta, and advocating for state governments in the region to join the Open Government Partnership (OGP). The OGP is a global partnership between governments and civil society to make governments more open, accountable, technology-driven and responsive to citizens. Launched in 2011, Nigeria joined the Partnership in July 2016 and is currently implementing 14 commitments under its first National Action Plan (NAP). Although states can join the sub-national initiative of the OGP, only five Nigerian states –Kaduna, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kano and Anambra – have joined so far.
Tijah Bolton-Akpan, Executive Director of Policy Alert, said: “The Niger Delta presents a peculiar development challenge with its familiar paradox of plenty. It also presents an interesting context for the implementation of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). That is why it is worrisome that no state in the region has so far signed on to the OGP, and our Collective has come up with the Observatory as a response to this gap.
However, the Secretary General, Edo Civil Society Organization (EDOCSO), Comrade Godspower Okumbor, described the summit as timely and a learning process for citizens in the Niger Delta to know their rights and be fully involve in the budget preparation in their various States.
Comrade Okumbor who commended the organisers of the programme for preaching the gospel of budget openness in the region, enjoined the various States government to be fully committed to the open government policy.
The summit with the theme: “Creating A Region-Wide Synergy For Open Budget”, was attended by representatives of the 9 Niger Delta States as well as Open Government Partnership (OGP), a global initiative that promotes transparency and accountability principles in governance.
