End of Commitment Report – Fiscal openness in the area of open contracting and public procurement, promoting transparency, accountability, citizen’s involvement and needs collection, inclusion.

Name of Evaluator

Zayyana Abubakar

Email

[email protected]

Member Name

Abuja, Nigeria

Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... Title

Action plan – Abuja, Nigeria, 2023 – 2026

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...

Fiscal openness in the area of open contractingA transparent procurement process, known as open contracting, increases competition, improves public service delivery, and ensures governments better value for their money. Technical specifications: C... More and public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t... More, promoting transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More, accountability, citizens’ involvement, and needs collection, 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.

Action

AMAC is committed to achieving the following medium-term goals:

• To increase awareness and promote citizens’ participation in the procurement process through the holding of dialogue meetings, media publicity, town hall meetings, and sensitization programs on public procurement.
• To ensure that the process of contracting/procurement is open to the public and that the criteria/requirement for qualification are accommodating and reasonably attainable to all, including women and young people.
• To ensure proper understanding of the concept of open government within the Area Council by developing the knowledge capacity of the AMAC government administrators and strengthening the collaboration of CSOs and the Area Council for effective Monitoring and Evaluation.
• To modernize the procurement system by using digital tools such as websites, mobile apps, and online bidding platforms, which are user-friendly, as well as the use of social media platforms, TVs, and radios for publicity.

Problem

More than 60% of corruption cases in the country have been related to procurement procedures, illustrating the need for better transparency and monitoring of public contracts. The rationale behind open contracting is that public procurement is part of the larger Public Finance Management, and in Nigeria, about 27.5% of the federal budget over the years has been dedicated to capital expenditure, which is delivered through contracting. Public contracting is the biggest source of public corruption, considering that no one dips their hands into the treasury and takes away money without a reason; therefore, contracting provides the perfect reason and avenue to mismanage resources in a way and manner that will not raise eyebrows if the public has no access to information. Corruption is one of the most serious issues confronting Nigerian public procurement. The procurement process’s lack of transparency and accountability has resulted in cases of embezzlement, fraud, and misappropriation of funds, undermining the procurement system’s credibility. These have compounded effects on project delivery to specifications, cost, and timelines, as well as standards and sustainability.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

Limited

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

At the start of the implementation, the 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... held an inception and planning meeting to strategize implementation and resource mobilization to implement the commitment.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer:

• Commitment Milestones

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

• Change of Administration
• Action plan II was not Institutionalized
• Skill deficit of council staff in digitizing procurement
• Resource mobilization constraint
• Political will
• Poor Sustainability mechanism of the 1st Action plan

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

few of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Due to a change in leadership structure and a lack of funds, the commitment was in a stalemate.

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

No

Degree of result:

Did not change

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

No impact due to non-implementation of commitment activities.

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

No

Degree of result:

Did not change

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

No

Degree of result:

Did not change

2.1.4 Other Results

No

Degree of result:

Did not change

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

No

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

The commitment was not implemented, and therefore, the intended public policy problem was not addressed.

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

• Political will is a strong enabler for commitment implementation.
• Leadership Administration changes have hindered the progress of commitments.
• Lack of Funding and external partnerships to help drive commitment and delivery has been a huge hindrance.
• Lack of capacity and understanding of Open Government dents any chance of success.