CSO, Expert Tasks FG On Accountability

A civil society organisation (CSO), African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) and some media practitioners have asked the federal government to involve citizens in the utilisation of funds from development partners.

The CSO stressed the importance of the active participation of women and youths in the public sector and the management of donor funds

It called for commitment from stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and development partners to enhance transparency and accountability within the sector.

The programme coordinator of the ANEEJ, Paul Odokara, who stated this on the “Report on the Aid Effectiveness of the 4th HLF Busan 2011 to Paris 2023, Stakeholders’ Assessment of the 4MR Themes” organised by ANEEJ in Abuja yesterday, stressed the need for the judicious utilisation of donor funds for national development.

Odokara said currently, 80 percent of the donor funds lack accountability to Nigerians, which is a significant issue affecting transparency in the country’s budgetary process.

He underscored the need for the government to be transparent with citizens regarding the utilization of these funds for national development, emphasizing that it’s a collective process.

On his part, a media executive and procurement expert, Dr Mohammed Attah said, in the light of these challenges, it’s essential for civil society groups to generate ideas and engage with the government to ensure accountability and transparency across the board.

He said, expectations from the government are very high. We have a similar situation: recent fund’s being released from the special drowning funds (SDRs) at that particular time mostly vulnerable Nigerians don’t know how this money was spent in the country.

He added, “Citizens participated based on the way the government distributed and managed the funds that the government received from different sources such as multilateral agencies, IMF, World Bank, African Union and African Development Bank.

There were also donations internally from corporate organisations, religious bodies, and traditional rulers, but the major problem was how did the government disburse and distribute the funds? Who had access to those funds? Did the government engage with the public and the civil society on how the funds were distributed? Did the civil society monitor the distribution to enhance transparency and accountability?” he said.

“CSOs need to understand how to source for information eligibility and informed the citizens because you cannot track what you don’t know about. You need to know how to track the information, which must be legitimate and credible. You must have your facts and figures and then use that information to hold the government accountable.”