Stakeholders in Nigeria’s public and private sectors have said that citizens have a vital role to play in fostering good governance and also encouraging transparency and accountability from the government.
Speaking during a plenary session at the 28th Nigerian Economic Summit on Tuesday, they noted that elements of good governance include transparency, accountability, active participation, efficiency, sustainability, etc.
Ben Akabueze, director general, the budget office of the federation, said the government has over the last few years improved in terms of transparency and accountability noting that the finances and treasury portal of the government is accessible.
He added that expenditure frameworks have become more detailed and other measures have been employed which makes it easier to hold government officials accountable.
“However citizens do pretty much nothing with all the data that is publicly available,” he said.
The DG pointed out that good governance cannot be achieved if there are no good people in government hence there is a need for citizens and even businesses to actively engage in the recruitment process of government leaders.
Orji Ogbonnaya, executive secretary, Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) said fostering transparency and accountability requires the availability of data and facts.
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He added that there is a need to build the capacity of citizens and the civil society to access and use data to ask informed questions to get informed responses which encourages engagements and fosters transparent and accountable governance.
“Nigerians need to react to data and information in a better way because citizens dwell more on bad reports rather than the good ones,” he said.
Garba Abubakar, registrar- general of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) said citizens elect their leaders and must learn to trust them and not be suspicious of their activities.
“As citizens, we have a right to question government policies and actions that we are not comfortable with, but sometimes we should have information before questioning them,” he said.
Olusegun Elemo, executive director, Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative said the engagement between the government and its citizens is important for transparency and accountability hence the government needs to prioritize feedback given by citizens.
“There are many indigenous firms that carry out research and compile reports about the country and the economy, but these reports do not influence the government’s policy formulation and implementation,” he said.
He said when citizens know that the government takes their feedback seriously; they become more inclined to make the government accountable and transparent in its activities.
