BY NONYE JULIET EKWENUGO
Kaduna
Civil Society Organisations, (CSOs) have urged Kaduna State government to make access to information available and accessible for its citizens.
The Civil Society State Action Plan Coach 2, for Open Government Partnership (OGP), Mrs Hadiza Umar stated this on the sideline of a stakeholders’ interactive session in line with the Kaduna State Government sustain agenda manifesto points 3 and 7 (strengthening Institutions and nurturing citizens’ engagement), organised by Transparency and Accountability in Totality Initiative (TinT).
According to Umar, citizens participation in governance can only be strengthened by the level of information disclosed and accessed.
Earlier, the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Barr Magaji Henry Danjuma noted that passage of bills is an obligation and not a commitment.
He said “our work is to legislate and if any issue needs to be legislated upon, is an obligation for us to legislate on that issue because there is no issue that does not need authority to be backed upon.
“Whatever it is must be guided by law. So if the domestication of FOI is required, then, it becomes an issue of legislation and a prerequisite for us as a legislature to act on it.
“There are processes to be followed to the letter and rules are meant to be obeyed which was what I was trying to say that all hands must be on deck, he said.
The Commissioner for Planning and Budget Commission (PBC), Abdullahi Monrovia restated governor Uba Sani’s commitment to an open-door policy.
According to him, the governor has held the first town hall meeting and he has taken it upon himself to be holding town hall meetings every six months to hear directly from the people.
The Project Officer, TinT, Musa Sulaiman tasked Kaduna governor, Uba Sani and the State’s lawmakers to ensure domestication of FOIA in Kaduna like it is in Ekiti and Imo States, he said.
He noted that having an accountable and transparent government will end suspicion and lack of trust.
