The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in collaboration with some civil society organisations will be organising a political debate to engage candidates and their political parties on public administration in Nigeria. Among the civil society organisations involved is African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (CLDS), ActionAid, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), among others.
Peter Ozo-Eson, the general secretary of the NLC, who made this known on Tuesday said the de- bate scheduled for Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, on Thursday, February 5, was necessary in order for the candidates seeking political offices and their parties to explain in concrete terms how they intend to fulfil their various political promises.
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“As we look to the 2015 general elections, it is necessary for political parties and candidates to tell the working people, voters and citizens in Nigeria how they will address the challenges of public administration in Nigeria. They need to show concrete strategies and plans for improved policy and planning coordination, improved human resource management structures, systems and skills and improved budget transparency, consultation, oversight and credibility.
“In Nigeria, there are huge challenges with public administration. The cost of governance is very high. There are huge challenges of policy planning and coordination. There is also a huge capacity gap in the public sector and the ministries, departments and agencies are not working optimally. The budgetary process is marked with a lot of challenges and there is hardly any year when the budget has been passed in the first month of the year,” Ozo-Eson said. “The primary purpose of government is the welfare and security of the people. The major way by which government machinery is operationalised is through public administration.”
