Jema'a Council boss seeks support of civil society on OGP

In his bid to institutionalize the ongoing local government reforms in Kaduna state especially the principles of Open Government Partnership (OGP), the Chairman of Jema'a Local Government Council has solicited support of civil society in promoting transparency, accountability and improve service delivery that would impact positively on the lives of the people in his local government.

Council Chairman, Hon Danjuma Peter Averik, who made this known when he paid a courtesy visit to officials of Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn(PERL/DFID) in their Kaduna office, said his visit became necessary to solicit for partnership against the backdrop of his passionate desire to engender transparency and accountability in his administration.

"I am here to seek for collaboration that can help in institutionalizing key local government reforms especially the OGP and Local Government Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (LFTAS) program towards improving service delivery in my local government. Currently the challenges are enormous and with the well-meaning activities of your organization, I am here to invite you personally to the local government so that governance can improve in Jema'a, in the interest of my people", Averik enthused, disclosing that he was determined to do things differently in accordance with ongoing reforms in the state.

Consultations, he explained, would go a long way in ensuring inclusiveness and the need to carry everyone along, adding that in that light his administration would not hesitate to present a performance report marking the first year of his administration.

Responding, State Team Leader of PERL, Mr Abel Adejor expressed his delight on the resolve of the Council Chairman to seek help on how to deepen governance in Jema'a. "We will convey your request to our other pillars of the program", he assured.

The meeting had in attendance members of the civil society drawn from the Coalition of Associations for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment and Development (CALPED) who committed to support the Jema'a boss towards strengthening citizens engagement and social accountability.

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