The Chairman, Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, in the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abdullahi Adamu Candido has called for more transparency in the conduct of Government business so as to ensure people understand and appreciate what is happening and what is being done at the Government level at any point in time.
Candido made the call during a three-day workshop on ” Open Governance Partnership, OGP, sensitisation and Action Plan Development” organised by the African Centre for leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD) in collaboration with Abuja Municipal Area Council currently going on in Keffi, Nasarawa state.
Candido stated that lack of transparency and accountability make things difficult in governance as citizens will not understand what the government is doing which in turn develops into a lack of trust.
Candido said, his administration will remain focused and committed to transparency and accountability irrespective of intimidation and harassment from some quarters which informs why the council today is a member of global OGP.
The workshop which has some key staff of Abuja Municipal Area Council who are directly working on Open Government Partnership (OGP) in the Council and members of some Civil Society Groups is focusing on developing an Action Plan for the operation of OGP in the Council.
According to him, ” things are being done differently now in the Council in an attempt to enhance service delivery”.
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He commended the Civil Society Groups who are partnering with the Council in this drive and for bringing the opportunity for the council to improve its skill through the workshop and called for more Partnership.
The Chairman also urged successive administrations in the Council to key in with their political wills to push further for these Partnerships so as to move the Council forward and not backward.
Open Government Partnership is a global coalition of reformers from government and Civil Society working to make government transparent, participatory and accountable to truly serve and empower citizens.
It is a platform for governments, civil society actors and other stakeholders interested in working together to make government more open and accountable.
Abuja Municipal Area Council became a member of the global OGP in 2020 as the only local government in Nigeria that has signed up to the Open Government Partnership.
OGP currently has 79 countries in its membership including Nigeria who also became a member in 2016.
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