The African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (CentreLSD) has commenced open government partnership (OGP) training for stakeholders in Gombe State, northeast, Nigeria.

The training is under its project titled ‘Deepening Transparency and Accountability in the Governance Process through the Implementation of Open Government Partnership in Nigeria’ with support from MacArthur Foundation.

In a statement to Development Diaries, CentreLSD’s Programme Coordinator, Lawal Amodu, said the training, which targeted 50 state and 40 non-state actors in the state, will result in the development of the State Action Plan.

The training, according to Amodu, is also meant to bring the state and non-state actors up to speed with regard to the understanding of the OGP principles to facilitate a smooth implementation of the action plan.

He added that the OGP is hinged on the principles of co-creation, which necessitates that government and civil society actors work together on the best strategies to bring development to the people, with the state government driving the process.

‘Gombe State is amongst the latest to sign up to the OGP in Nigeria, with the intent to making governance open, transparent, and accountable’, the statement read.

‘Today, a total of 24 states have signed up to the OGP which is governed by four key principles: transparency, accountability, citizens participation and technology and innovation’.

The OGP is an international initiative aimed at promoting open governance, citizen’s empowerment, fight corruption, and harness new technology to strengthen governance in member states.

OGP data shows that Nigeria is currently implementing 16 commitments from their 2019 to 2022 OGP action plan.

Photo source: CentreLSD