Action plan – Abuja, Nigeria, 2021 – 2022

At-a-Glance

Duration

Jun 2022

Date Submitted

20th August 2021

Foreword(s)

The office of the Special Adviser on Civil society matters was created by the present administration to create an entry point for members of the CSO to engage the government. This office has been given the mandate to execute the implementation of the OGP action plan in the council and to also work with the members of the CSOs involved in the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive....

The action plan which was co-created with civil societies and the citizens is only one step towards institutionalizing open government as a new approach to governance. This new approach is anchored in the belief that engaging productively with actors outside government will help us find and implement solutions to the most pressing problems our city is facing

Open Government Challenges, Opportunities and Strategic Vision

This subsection details the Open Government Strategic Vision in your local area that should guide the commitments for the action plan period.

What is the long-term vision for open government in your context and jurisdiction?

Since the onset of this administration, we have been committed to promoting fiscal openness in our engagement with citizens in order to improve services, manage public resources, promote innovation, create a safer community, and improve citizens’ participation in governance.

What are the achievements in open government to date (for example, recent open government reforms)?

Achievements in open government in our administration include the following:

Regular dialogue meetings with members of CSOs

Reforms in the area of responding to request on freedom of information act

Engagement with members of the public on issues around public service deliveryTo ensure that citizens of all groups are better supported by the government, OGP participating governments are working to improve the quality of and access to public services. Commitments in this are... More

Publication of financial report

Open budgetary processes with the inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... More of members of the public in the needs assessment

Creation of active social media pages for providing feedback to citizens on issues raised about public service delivery

Partnership with NGOs (PWAN) to carry out research on the areas of vulnerability to corruption in our service delivery

What are the current challenges/areas for improvement in open government that the jurisdiction wishes to tackle?

Our administration has been working towards achieving Open Government, but we aim to make it an even more open place. However, our administration has recognized the following areas for improvement:

Lack of understanding of government proceedings

Building the trust level of government

Lack of capacity of personnel to manage new innovations

Low interest of the public on local government affairs

What are the medium-term open government goals that the government wants to achieve?

The medium-term open government goals that the administration seeks to achieve are as follows:

To create a system that reduces vulnerability to corruption.

To set up a platform to engage the public on policy reforms within the government

How does this action plan contribute to achieve the Open Government Strategic Vision?

The first commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... seeks to include citizens in the budget process and to make sure that information about the budget process is available to citizens in an accessible and timely therefore it seeks to help the government pay key attention to transparency, accountability, and citizens participation. This will also keep track of the commitment to OGP, and promote and protect the rights of citizens

It helps to guide the actions of our Anti-corruption transparency unit of the council

How does the open government strategic vision contribute to the accomplishment of the current administration’s overall policy goals?

It is helping in boosting the relationship with members of CSOs

It boosts the trust level of citizens with the government

It helps improve public service efficiency

Engagement and Coordination in the Open Government Strategic Vision and OGP Action Plan

Please list the lead institutions responsible for the implementation of this OGP action plan.

• The office of the special Adviser on ICT/CSOs
• Finance and Accounts Department
• The Anti-corruption transparency unit of the council (ACTU)
• The information division

What kind of institutional arrangements are in place to coordinate between government agencies and departments to implement the OGP action plan?

The office of the special adviser on ICT/CSOs, finance department, and ACTU were given the mandate to coordinate other departments of government in the implementation of the OGP plan, alongside a steering committeeThe Steering Committee is OGP’s executive decision-making body. Its role is to develop, promote and safeguard OGP’s values, principles and interests; establish OGP’s core ideas, policies, and ru... made up of civil societies.

What kind of spaces have you used or created to enable the collaboration between government and civil society in the co-creation and implementation of this action plan? Mention both offline and online spaces.

The following spaces have been created for the co-creation, coordination, and implementation of the action plan in:

Upon the inception of the government in 2019, an office was created for the members of civil society for an enabled engagement and exchange of information with members of the council. The office liaises with the members of CSO who are part of the co-creation team in the implementation of the action plan (The steering committee).

online engagement with members of the civil society through our social media platform

What measures did you take to ensure diversity of representation (including vulnerable or marginalized populations) in these spaces?

Civil societies representing the interest of vulnerable groups are part of the co-creation team and the steering committee. We also ensure genderOGP participating governments are bringing gender perspectives to popular policy areas, ensuring diversity in participatory processes, and specifically targeting gender gaps in policies to address gov... More base balance amongst the team.

Who participated in these spaces?

DEAN Initiative

Action AidMore and better information about aid helps partner countries and donor institutions plan and manage aid resources more effectively, parliaments and civil society to hold governments accountable for t..., Nigeria

BudgIt Nigeria

Africa Centre for Leadership, Strategy, and Development

Connected development

Partner West Africa Nigeria

Africa Young female advancement forum

CISLAC

members of the council from various departments and unit

How many groups participated in these spaces?

20

How many public-facing meetings were held in the co-creation process?

4

How will government and non-governmental stakeholders continue to collaborate through the implementation of the action plan?

5 government staff and 5 Non-Governmental organizations form the steering committee for the implementation of the commitment  plan and overseas the action plan for the council. The steering committee was set up as a platform for members of the Non-governmental organization to continue collaborating with the council to achieve the OGP mandate and action plan goal. They will also manage the OGP secretariat. The civil society who are members of the steering committee made commitments to support the council in carrying out some of the activities on the plan.

Please describe the independent Monitoring Body you have identified for this plan.

Anti-corruption and transparency unit of the council- This is an independent corruption body created in line with the federal government mandate to address the issues of corruption in public service. The unit is headed by the head of personnel at the council and with members from various departments like the legal, audit, finance, procurement e.t.c. The unit identifies issues of corruption in service delivery and sends their report directly to the federal government corruption agency (ICPC) without the interference of the local council authorities.

Provide the contact details for the independent monitoring body.

• Barr. Ayodele Shona, Head, The Legal Division , AMAC, ayoodey@gmail.com

What types of activities will you have in place to discuss progress on commitments with stakeholders?

Regular town hall meetings both virtually and physically to discuss the update on our commitment plan with members of the civil society and the general public.

Social media engagement will also be used to discuss updates on the commitment

How will you regularly check in on progress with implementing agencies?

The steering committee will have monthly meetings with the Budget director and other implementing units of the council on the progress made toward the actualization of the action plan. The meeting will be coordinated by the desk officer of the OGP

How will you share the results of your monitoring efforts with the public?

Regular publication on our media pages on the progress made

Regular dialogue sessions with stakeholders at the mid-term evaluation

Series of webinars with the public on the results of the commitment plan

Final town hall meeting with the public to discuss the outcome and output of the action plan

Endorsement from Non-Governmental Stakeholders

• Semiye Michael, Executive Director, DEAN Initiative
• Mukhtar Halilu Modibbo, Community Engagement Officer, Connected Development (CODE)
• Henry Omokhaye, Program Officer, BudgIt Nigeria
• Olayinka Martins, Director of Development, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development
• Sani Ibrahim, Partnership and Local Rights Programs Officer, Action Aid Nigeria
• Ijeoma Igwe, Program Assistant, Partners West Africa Nigeria
• Ojonuga Yahaya, Secretariat, Africa Young female advancement forum

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