By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA – Co-Chair of Nigeria’s Open Government Partnership (OGP), Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Thursday decried the lack of transparency in the financial operations of the initiative’s National Steering Committee led by the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

Abubakar Malami (SAN) 

Ojo, who is also the Executive Secretary, Media Rights Agenda, said it was ironic and worrisome that even in his capacity as a co-chair of the apex initiative of the government designed to engender transparency, accountability and participation, he could not tell, if the 17-months-old committee had a bank account or not.

He said though the OGP initiative in the country had achieved remarkable progresses in major areas of governance which have been acknowledged by the International Steering Committee OGP, the values of  transparency, accountability, and participation were yet to be internalised by the Malami-led committee as information regarding its finances were shrouded in deep mystery even to key members.

Ojo, in his remarks at the 4th meeting of the Committee in Abuja, said: “Firstly, at both formal and informal discussions, I have been asked questions by some donors and other NSC members about financial matters that have made me very uncomfortable, largely because I had no answers to those questions and I was keenly aware that that ought not to be the case.

“As the National Steering Committee, we sit at the apex of an initiative that is designed to engender transparency, accountability, and participation. I am not sure how much information the rest of you have, but speaking for myself as co-Chair, I have no in form whatsoever about our finances and financial operations.

“I don’t know how much we have or have received from various sources or for what purposes. I don’t know where the money sits, I don’t know who proposes expenditures and who authorizes, I don’t know how our financial priorities are determined and by whom, I don’t know if we have bank accounts or not and if we do, who the signatories are.

“If we do not have bank accounts, who has the custody of funds that are intended for the operations and activities of OGP Nigeria, whatever the source of the funds may be? How was the custodian selected? Did the NSC or at least the co-Chairs have a say in that decision? If they did not have a say in the decision, are they aware of the arrangements and are they satisfied with those arrangements, especially having regard to the matters that OGP deals with, namely transparency, accountability and participation?

“How can we aim to achieve fiscal transparency at a national level of we do not practice it within this initiative that seeks to help us achieve this as a national objective? How can we insist that citizens must have access to national budgets and budget information as well as reports of expenditure when we do not have it within an institutional arrangement that we have oversight of?

‘I know this are uncomfortable questions and I apologize if I have made some of you uncomfortable. But these are questions that in our role as National Steering Committee members, we should have answers to and perhaps even be responsible for. These information ought to be presented to us by default, because we should know.

“Whatever be the case, it is my respective view that it is critically important that we are all on the same page as to what the role of the NSC is so that we can determine how best to play and deliver on our mandate.”