Five governorship candidates in Akwa Ibom State have signed an Open Government manifesto at the governorship debate organised by the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ.
The signing of the Open Government Manifesto―aimed at showing the candidate’s readiness to run an open government agenda if elected into office―was facilitated by the Non-Governmental Organisation, Policy Alert.
The debate, held at Ibom Icon and Golf Resort, Uyo, hosted the governorship candidates of the African Action Congress, Iboro Otu, African Democratic Congress’ Ezekiel Nyaetok and Dr David Essien of Action Democratic Party. Others were New Nigeria Peoples Party’s Senator John James Akpanudoeghe and Senator Bassey Akpan of the Young Progressives Party.
The governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, Pastor Umo Eno and Akanimo Udofia of All Progressives Congress were absent.
Speaking during the presentation, Senior Programme Officer of Policy Alert, Mfon Gabriel, explained that the Open Government Policy was an initiative targeted at making government more transparent, accountable and participatory.
He disclosed that since Nigeria signed on to OGP in 2016, only 25 states have so far signed on to the policy, regretting that Akwa Ibom is one of the three states in the Niger Delta that are not yet signed on to the partnership.
Mfon noted that the Niger Delta presents an interesting case for subnational open government implementation as states in the region currently receive high federally-allocated revenue compared to other states.
According to him: “The signing of the manifesto is part of an OpenGovTownHall series implemented by the Niger-Delta Open Government Observatory (NOGO), a civil society cluster working to strengthen the uptake and implementation of OGP in the region.”
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