- The anti-corruption fight under the Muhammadu Buhari administration is making progress
- One of the initiatives helping the government achieve its aim is the Open Government Partnership (OGP)
- The Buhari government joined the global initiative in July 2016 to help fight corruption in Nigeria
The anti-corruption fight under the Muhammadu Buhari administration is making progress through the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative.
OGP is a multi-stakeholder initiative that focuses on improving government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to citizens.
Founded in 2011, the initiative has grown from 8 countries to 75 countries by February 2017.
One of the focus of President Buhari's government is to fight corruption. Source: Twitter
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Nigeria joined the initiative in July 2016 and subsequently submitted its 1st National Action Plan (NAP) in December 2016.
The NAP is made up of 14 commitments across 4 thematic areas namely; fiscal transparency, anti-corruption, access to information and citizen’s engagement
OGP in Nigeria is led by a National Steering Committee Co-chaired by the Attorney General of the Federation & Minister of Justice and the Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda and made of members of government, private sector and Civil Society Organisations
NAIJ.com lists 13 major improvement of the initiative in helping curb corruption in Nigeria.
1. Budget process now more open- more timely consultation. Comprehensive citizens' guide on the budget published.
2. Establishment of Public Procurement Monitoring Group with private sector. Building of capacity of federal government's Ministries Departments and Agencies on procurement. Development of National Open Contracting Platform (NOCOPO).
3. The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has continued to carry out audit of the EI sector with the Technical Working Group to take the issues raised by the audit and also take the findings forward
4. Adopting common standards on tax: Signing of several multilateral conventions on tax and launching of Voluntary Income and Assets Declaration Scheme (VAIDS)
5. Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council has been active in simplifying business processes with government agencies. Recently through their work Nigerian gained 24 points in the Ease of Doing Business ranking conducted by the World Bank
6. Establishment of Central Beneficial Ownership Register is on course at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and others stakeholders are working on amendments of the Companies and Allied Matters Act law. A regulation is being drafted to empower CAC to begin to collect BO information as part of company registration
7. Strengthening of Asset Recovery Legislation: POCA bill passed by Senate. Awaiting Passage by the House of Representatives. Civil Society collaboration on monitoring the expenditure of returned assets.
8. Enhanced coordination of anti-corruption activities: National Anti-corruption Strategy has been harmonised, adopted and presented after robust consultation with civil society. Whistle blower bill submitted for consideration in the National Assembly.
9. Freedom of Information bill: Improved compliance. Comprehensive database of FOI officers and launch of e-portals in the federal ministry of information and NEITI
10. Design of Mandatory Disclosure document. NEITI and Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) currently doing mandatory disclosure.
11. Permanent dialogue mechanism: The Nigerian Orientation Agency has hosted national stewardship and accountability fora in three locations. Citizens guide to budget being translated to other languages.
12. Government and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) jointly review existing legislation. The African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development has completed this research and made recommendations
13. Adopt technology based feedback: imonitor platform for citizens feedback on budget implementation. Technology gap assessment conducted. OGP website about to be deployed. Open Alliance developed CSOs tracking of NAP implementation.
In a related development, the federal government has kick-started plans to establish a public beneficial ownership register.
In a meeting held recently in Abuja, key agencies of the government fine-tuned strategies for the implementation of the policy.
The meeting which was held under the auspices of the OGP had in attendance the representatives of NEITI, CAC, the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Ministry of Justice, CSOs amongst others.
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The EFCC stage a walk against corruption on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng