By Stanley Onyekwere
Following the joining of global Open Government Partnership (OGP) local in 2020, the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) has left no stone unturned to fulfil all that is involved, according to an official report from the council.
Making this disclosure, Special Adviser to the Executive Chairman of AMAC, Abiodun Essiet, said of the four OGP thematic dimensions, fiscal transparency, access to information, public disclosure of assets and citizen engagement, AMAC decided to focus on citizen’s engagement as her maiden action plan commitment.
Essiet, who is also the Desk officer for OGP, explained that the objective of the commitment is to improve citizen’s engagement and participation in the budgetary process, which has ensured that information about the budgetary process is made available to citizens in an accessible and timely manner, and citizens were able to make inputs across the budget cycle.
Recall that AMAC became the third government institution and the first Local Government in Nigeria to join the OGP global platform to build and all inclusive governance, which includes allowing women, marginal groups, vulnerable people contribute to the development of the council.
Also, it was gathered that AMAC had kicked off her OGP process by harnessing her existing partnership with government ministries, civil societies and community groups to create an action plan that will contain concrete reforms for development, and accountability.
