By Sylvester Egede
The Technical Working Groups of Open Government Partnership (OGP) supported by USAID State2State (S2S) has emphasized the need to improve transparency and accountability in the governance of Ebonyi State.
The Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist and the Focal Person for the Open Government Partnership, OGP Coordinating for the USAID State2State, Ejiro Okotie made this known during the quarterly meeting of the Technical Working Group of the organization in the state.
Okotie said the meeting was aimed at reviewing the progress of the implementation of the OGP State Action Plan (SAP).
The Focal Person noted that the effective implementation of OGP would contribute to transparency and accountability in governance in Ebonyi State.
According to Okotie, the gathering was a quarterly progress and review meeting to see how the OGP is being implemented in Ebonyi state, the challenges being faced and to discuss strategies to enhance OGP SAP implementation.
Also, chart a way for sustainability of the partnership between state actors and non-state actors as State2State will soon be rounding off their programme in the state come August 2025 and there is a need for early plans for consolidating reforms achievement supported so far.
In his contribution, the Director of Statistics in the State Ministry of Budget and Planning, Dr Moses Onwe said that the working ethics of OGP have been beneficial to the citizens as the general public knows more about the activities of the state government.
The Programme Manager of Initiative for Social Change in Africa, Mrs Nwafor Lorrieth harped on the freedom of information dissemination of the activities of Open Government Partnership in the state.
During the meeting, members were assigned to their respective thematic areas which included citizen engagement groups, peace and conflict resolution, access to information and fiscal transparency.
After the group work, presentations were made by different groups with recommendations stating that OGP projects should be included in the 2025 budget call circular, to aid budgetary provisions for OGP implementation in the 2025 Budget.
Sylvester Egede is the Public Relations Officer of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly.
