CODE Tasks Monitoring & Evaluation Officers on FOI Compliance
From:Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
Connected Development (CODE) has urged Monitoring & Evaluation Officers in Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) and ensure that all request are promptly responded to.
The Project Manager of Deepening Citizens Interest in Government Spendings and Addressing Accompanying Corrupt Practices (DeSPAAC), Mr. Kingsley Agu disclosed this during a training workshop for the M&E Officers on Open Government Partnership (OGP) and FOI compliance in Kaduna.
Agu said “as the Monitoring & Evaluation personnel they should always be ready to reply to FOI request on projects and spending within their jurisdiction to encourage transparency and accountability”.
According to him, the training being supported by MacArthur Foundation also had in attendance M&E officers from 23 local government Areas of the state in order to ensure that OGP is taking to the grassroots and documents made available when requested by citizens.
He said that the OGP, being a multilateral initiative, aimed to secure concrete commitments from national and sub-national governments, to promote open Government, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.
Agu added that the training was also part of their commitment to provide capacity for M&E officers, where they had earlier met with elected Local Government Areas (LGAs) Chairmen and offered to train their officers, to enshrine OGP tenets in their activities.
He, however, said the FOI Act, not being domesticated in Kaduna State, had not affected their work of tracking constituency projects and universal basic education spendings.
He explained that when the M&E officers became aware of what the laws stated regarding release of information and OGP, it helped them to work better with the community members, he said.
Agu reiterated that the OGP would inform the officers on planning, so they could get the views of citizens when carrying out needs assessments for project implementation across the state.
He called on the citizens, especially at LGAs, to use the FOI Act in getting information, to get the right data to track and monitor projects.
He also called on the LGAs in the state to start setting up OGP structures to ensure citizens’ full participation in project development and implementation.
A participant, Mr. Yarima Zakariyya, the M&E Officer of the state Planning and Budget Commission, said he had learned that the state was moving towards results based M&E, now a global trend.
He said Kaduna was one of the 0p states regarding response to FOI to p, where the Planning and Buppdget had contributed immensely to responding effectively and timely to request by citizens.
On his part, Mr. Joshua Yakubu, the Assistant Director Planning, Zangon Kataf LGA, said the training had exposed him more to the importance of citizens participation in government regarding enhancing accountability and transparency.
He said he understood the rudiments to apply in handling the citizens roles in budget process.
