Kaduna govt lauds CODE for sensitization of citizens on consultancy projects
By: Femi Mustapha
The Kaduna State Government has commended Connected Development (CODE), an NGO, for mobilizing citizens in the state to monitor Constituency projects in the state.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government, Hajiya Habiba Shekarau, gave the commendation when she received a delegation of the CODE team, Community Monitoring Teams, and the Media in her office.
The Permanent Secretary said that mobilizing the residents to get involved in the design and implementation of constituency projects was very crucial, saying she is excited that a young team from CODE is at the forefront, an indication that there is hope for future generations.
Hajiya Habiba Shekarau opined that the involvement of constituents in the design and execution of constituency and other development projects will ensure that government spending meets the people’s development yearning, and the Ministry will be ready to partner with CODE in the noble cause.
In his presentation, the Kaduna State Team lead of CODE, Mohammed Abubakar, said in a bid to deepen citizens’ interest in government spending and address accompanying corrupt practices, his organization has sensitized residents of Kaduna State on how to engage the government using the FollowTheMoney model.
According to him, by fostering social accountability, the organization had through its open government and improved service delivery in the execution of development projects, exposed and mitigated corruption and tackled extreme poverty in rural communities.
Speaking earlier, the Project Assistant of CODE in Kaduna, Zaraphat Haruna, explained that Nigeria’s constituency projects are shrouded in secrecy.
According to her, “First, the recipient regions are not aware of the projects, and this stems from the fact that the projects did not emanate from them.
Second, the time of executing the project is not known for them to oversee their implementation.
Third, federal representatives are far away from the people they claim to represent.”
Zaraphat Haruna stressed that with most of these legislators not having offices, the electorate only sees them during the electioneering period. Afterwards, it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the people to see their elected representatives. Therefore, she seeks the Ministry’s collaboration in tracking