Some development partners have established a platform known as the ‘Civil Society-Legislature Engagement and Accountability Platform (CLEAP)’ to deepen legislative engagement and accountability in Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria.
Development Diaries reports that CLEAP is a multi-stakeholder platform of civil society and legislators championing reform initiatives for a more open, transparent, accountable, and responsive Kaduna State House of Assembly.
Speaking on the essence of the platform, a founding member, Yusuf Goje of the Coalition of Association for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment and Development (CALPED), explained that it seeks to promote Open Government Partnership (OGP) principles and practices in the legislative processes.
OGP is a multilateral initiative designed to promote open government, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.
In OGP, governments work with civil society organisations (CSOs) to create action plans with concrete reforms.
According to Goje, CLEAP would serve as a platform for dialogue and partnership between the legislature and civil society for effective horizontal and diagonal accountability.
He stressed that the platform would increase interaction between legislators and constituents to strengthen the legislative process and deepen the culture of open governance through lawmaking, oversight and evaluation.
‘This is crucial because the legislative arm of government is at the heart of democracy being the institution of government that gives meaning to the government of the people, by the people and for the people’, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted him as saying.
‘It is also worthy of note that good governance can only be actualised when we have an effective legislature.
‘To have an effective legislature, it must be open, transparent, accountable, responsible, and responsive to citizens’ engagement.
‘This will build trust and collaboration between the legislature and civil society, thereby strengthening horizontal, diagonal, and vertical accountability’.
Goje said that CLEAP would be working with stakeholders within and outside the Kaduna State House of Assembly.
Photo source: WACSI
