By Bob Majiri Etemiku
Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has commenced implementation of the Civil Society Advocacy Support for Anti-Corruption crusade in Nigeria.
As part of the implementation exercise, the human and environment rights group organized a two-day training in Abuja for selected Civil Society organizations on Open Government Partnership (OGP) the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) implementation in Nigeria, from March 29 to 30, 2017.
In his opening speech, ANEEJ Executive Director, Rev David Ugolor told participants that the workshop was part of activities lined up under the “Civil Society Advocacy to Support Anti-Corruption in Nigeria (CASAN),” a project which ANEEJ is currently implementing.
According to him, CASAN project is supported by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) under the European Union (EU) founded 10th European Development Fund (EDF).
The goal of the project, he emphasized, is to enhance the capacity of CSOs, including journalists to support anti-corruption effort of the Nigerian government.
“Our target is to get a number of CSOs to understand what the Federal Government is currently doing regarding two important processes so that they will be able to engage the relevant government agencies taking lead in the implementation of such initiatives,” he noted.
Rev Ugolor listed the following processes as reference points in the implementation:
Iimplementation of Open Government Partnership (OGP) and
the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)
As part of the project implementation, ANEEJ is holding this workshop to strengthen the capacity of selected CSOs including journalists on the concept of open government partnership.
This includes the open contracting platform and the implementation UNCAC in Nigeria including the 2nd UNCAC review circle, to support their policy advocacy and engagement with relevant agencies of government around the issues.
The workshop has been designed to:
Train participants on the concept of OGP and the implementation of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in Nigeria including the second UNCAC review process.
Prepare CSOs to participate in the 2nd UNCAC review circle
Bring focal persons involved in the implementation of OGP and UNCAC review process to meet with CSOs
It is expected that at the end of the workshop:
Participants should have enhanced knowledge on the OGP and UNCAC implementation and review in Nigeria and should be able to apply the knowledge to support their policy advocacy around the issues.
Journalists should be able to use their platform to report the issues they learnt during the workshop.
Participants would identify entry point for CSOs in the implementation of OGP and UNCAC review
Rev Ugolor further stated that ANEEJ’s interests on the issues are that, they present significant opportunity for civil society organizations to participate in critical governance processes and anti-corruption initiatives, most importantly as they emphasize preventive approach to tackling corruption.
Nigeria formally joined the OGP in July 2016, two months after President Muhammadu Buhari attended the London Anti-Corruption Summit.
So far, the Nigerian OGP National Action Plan (January 2017 – June 2019) has been developed with civil society and private sector input. One of the key deliverables of the OGP is the open contracting platform which the Bureau of Public Procurement is currently developing.
Similarly, the second review cycle of UNCAC (2015–2020) covering chapter II on preventive measures and chapter V on asset recovery is currently on.
It is therefore important that CSOs actively participates during the UNCAC review process to strengthen such process.
Invitees to the opening ceremony included persons from the Ministry of Justice (a focal person for the UNCAC review), the Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reform (TUGAR) which is the secretariat for the 2ND UNCAC review circle in Nigeria; Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), another focal person for the UNCAC review.
Participants at the workshop were mainly CSOs, including Journalists, believed to be part of the critical stakeholders who will drive the implementation of these two processes.
Rev Ugolor appreciated and thanked the EU through the UNDP and UNODC for the support they have given to his organization in the implementation of the CASAN project.
