The Open Government Partnership (OGP Nigeria) has stressed its commitment to making the activities of government transparent and open. It made this clear during an engagement with media professionals, social media influencers and Civil Society Organisations.

Speaking at the event held at Sheraton Hotel Abuja on Friday, the OGP National Coordinator and Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Judicial Matters, Mrs Juliet Ibekakwu, who represented the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, emphasised that the OGP is succeeding in promoting equal participation of civil society alongside government in the business of governance.

She further stressed that the OGP is doing everything humanly possible by working with the Ministry of Information and National Orientation Agency (NOA) to ensure that Nigerians get information on governmental policies promptly through multiple communication channels.

“Under the citizens’ engagement commitment area, government is deliberately creating technology-driven platforms for proactive disclosure of information to enable citizens learn about our programmes and projects and ask the right questions,” she added.

When asked how the current administration takes feedback and concerns raised by stakeholders on OGP’s policies, Ibekakwu said: “Of course, we have remained responsive to these demands and we still insists on value addition through feeling the pulse on the street to gauge the impact of our policies on Nigerian citizens.”

While emphasising on the essence of media, she stressed that it is very crucial to carry the media along at all times if the OGP must deliver on the objectives of the current APC administration to mainstream openness in the affairs of governance.

Ibekakwu however assured that the OGP will continue to build trust with citizens and civil society to deepen democracy and build a country where accountability and transparency gradually become an integral part of our daily lives.

However, it was also learnt during the dialogue that OGP, as a new concept, is spreading rapidly and has continued to generate commendable interest among the federating units of the country, all in a bid to improve citizens’ engagement while ensuring that the principles of co-creation and co-governance are preserved.

The media dialogue also brought to fore the understanding of how the OGP scheme is being embraced at the sub-national level and how far OGP secretariat, in conjunction with Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), has gone in sensitising and advocating subscription of state governments to OGP, with good results.

Also speaking on the progress of the OGP during his remark, Mr Uche Igwe, a member of the OGP working group, maintained that more than ever before, the budget process is now more open and consultation is timely, adding that there is comprehensive citizens’ guide on the budget published.

He added that presidential enabling business environment council has been active in simplifying business processes with government agencies and encouraged states to join the OGP in Nigeria.