Country Background

The Nigeria government signed on to the OGP in 2016 and made commitments to drive accountability, transparency and inclusive citizen participation in governance. Within the past 9 years, Nigeria has implemented three National Action Plans (NAP) with ambitious reform commitments, co-creating its first, second and third NAPs in 2016, 2019 and 2022 respectively and currently implementing the third NAP which is to run from 2023 to 2025 alongside with civil society organizations. 

Nigeria joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in July 2016 as the 70th member country, marking a significant step toward transparency, accountability, and inclusive governance. Through its participation in the OGP, Nigeria has enhanced inclusiveness in decision-making, improved coordination among government agencies, and minimized duplication and resource wastage. It has also strengthened collaboration with civil society and fostered greater trust between the government and citizens.

Key institutions, such as the Budget Office of the Federation, the National Bureau of Statistics, and the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation, have leveraged the government’s commitment to openness to deliver on their mandates more effectively. As a result, the government has become increasingly responsive to citizen feedback and concerns, leading to more informed and impactful policymaking.

The National Action Plan (NAP) is a strategic roadmap that embodies the core objectives of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). It encompasses a broad range of thematic areas, each with specific commitments to be implemented by government institutions including Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in collaboration with civil society organizations (CSOs) and the organized private sector (OPS). This collective effort aligns with the principles of openness, accountability, and citizen participation that define the OGP.

The NAP aims to deepen and mainstream transparency mechanisms and citizens’ engagement in the management of public resources across all sectors. Through a consultative process between government and non-state actors, the National Steering Committee (NSC) agreed to consolidate governance priorities into four thematic areas in the NAP. The thematic areas are: (1) promoting fiscal transparency; (2) access to information; (3) anti-corruption and asset disclosure; and, (4) citizen engagement and empowerment.  

The NAPs which was developed along thematic interests: Fiscal transparency, public service delivery, extractive transparency, access to information, anti-corruption and asset recovery, participatory governance, inclusion, climate change and citizen engagement have recorded impact during the previous administration of President Muhammad Buhari, leading to Nigeria winning the OGP Impact Award for Commitment and progress in achieving her commitment to the OGP Principles.

Following the 2023 election transition, which led to the emergence of President Bola Tinubu for the 2023–2027 term, the administration has made several commitments and taken steps to deepen governance reforms. These include the relaunching of the Citizen Delivery Portal, approving Nigeria’s membership in the OGP Global Beneficial Ownership Leadership Group, enhancing the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal (NOCOPO), and aligning the government’s 8-point agenda with the OGP process, particularly through the inauguration of the Presidential Committee on Taxation and Fiscal Reforms.

However, these efforts have not yet yielded significant improvements in accountability and public trust. Additionally, certain policy decisions by the current administration have contributed to economic challenges, including rising inflation, insecurity, poverty, and hunger, further impacting public confidence in governance.

The change in leadership across several government institutions following the transition has created gaps in institutional memory and a lack of continuity in understanding the roles of key agencies working toward the commitments outlined in National Action Plan III.

At the same time, a shrinking civic space, ineffective citizen engagement, growing public distrust, and limited access to accurate information have weakened citizens’ ability to demand accountability from the government. As a result, the sustainability of effective democratic governance, built on the principles of transparency and accountability in line with the OGP process, is increasingly at risk.

This challenge is even more pressing at a time when Africa is experiencing a shift toward military regimes, largely driven by a lack of inclusive governance and persistent corruption.

Transition towards a more open government  

Prior to the President’s commitment, Nigeria had already engaged in several initiatives aimed at achieving a more open government. Many home grown anti-corruption reforms had been initiated by previous governments.  The OGP initiative, therefore, presented a complimentary platform for increased transparency, accountability, global participation, peer learning and continuous self-assessment. It also provided an opportunity for enhanced vertical and horizontal coordination for improved impact on citizens. The country has also witnessed the application of technology and innovation in enhancing an open government as is evident in the following reforms: 

1. Financial Management Systems: Implementation of the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) has brought greater transparency to public financial management processes. The Federal Ministry of Finance, Office of the Accountant General and Budget Office regularly publish allocations of federation revenues to all tiers of government, and widely disseminate information on budget allocation and execution. Similarly, IPPIS has created a centralized database system for the Public Service with a single, accurate source of employee information. 
2. Treasury Single Account (TSA): Full implementation of the TSA has enabled the government to better monitor the financial activities of over 900 MDAs from a single platform, reduced the amount the government loses in interest rates on borrowing from commercial banks, eliminated the process of cash backing MDAs’ accounts with commercial banks, improved the reconciliation process for MDA accounts and saved the government several billions of naira which would otherwise have been lost through corrupt practices.
3. Bank Verification Number (BVN): The implementation of the BVN initiative has created a centralized biometric identification system for the financial system. It has reduced fraudulent practices by dubious individuals and restored confidence in our banking industry given that it makes it possible to follow the trail of money.   
4. Freedom of Information (FOI) Act: The enactment of the FOI Act in 2011 has made public records and information more freely available and accessible to Nigerians. Several government agencies have set up compliance structures that now enable them to respond to requests for information within the ambit of the law. The Bureau of Public Service Reform (BPSR) has adopted a unique electronic FOI platform on its website that gives real-time information to citizens and also encourages voluntary disclosure. 
5. Public Procurement Act, 2007: The Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) is working to implement and improve transparent and competitive procurement processes in line with global open contracting principles. It is the objective of this government to pursue the automation of public procurement processes in all government agencies as the amendment to the act is ongoing at the National Assembly. Already the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has adopted the open contracting standards in its operations and is one of the first agencies of government to do so. 
6. Beneficial Ownership Register: The Nigeria extractive industries transparency initiative (NEITI) first developed a register of beneficial owners of all companies operating in the Nigerian extractive industry. Nigeria open central register of persons with significant control (beneficial ownership register). On Thursday, 25 May 2023, Nigeria launched its Open Central Register of Beneficial Ownership (known as the Persons with Significant Control (PSC) Register) in line with its commitment at the Anti-Corruption Summit held in London on 12th May 2016.
7. Asset Declaration: The Code of Conduct Bureau is now able to implement its mandate of ensuring that public officers declare their assets promptly and such assets are verified and recorded in accordance with the law. 

Socio-political and Economic Relevance of the National Action Plan 

The National Action Plan seeks to improve the relationship between government and citizens by opening up governance for citizens to know and participate in how their government is being managed. It seeks to promote fiscal transparency through more citizen participation in the budget process, implementation of open contracting in the public sector, enhancing disclosure in the extractive industries, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the tax system and improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria. 

The plan is also meant to ensure that corruption is rooted-out through the establishment of a public beneficial ownership register, the development of a platform for sharing information between government MDAs to detect and prevent corrupt practices, the strengthening of Nigeria’s asset recovery legislation and taking appropriate actions to coordinate anti-corruption activities. 

Under the citizen’s engagement thematic area, the NAP led to the development of a permanent dialogue mechanism between citizens and government; review of legislation around transparency and accountability issues; and the adoption of a technology based citizens’ feedback on projects and programs. The last two commitments will improve access to information by increasing compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. 

Beyond the commitments, the NAP also took into consideration cross cutting issues that will empower citizens to engage with the government and ensure proper dissemination and management of information. The cross cutting issues are: (i) Technology and Innovation; (ii) Monitoring and Evaluation; and (iii) Communication. To ensure effective deployment of these tools across all thematic areas, three working groups have been set up to develop implementation strategies and to articulate action plans to support the work of these groups. 

Conclusion 

Now that Nigeria is in the process of developing the NAP 4, the concern should be to take lessons from the past NAPS to enrich the development of the NAP4 on the three interrelated elements critical to advancing sustainable open governance reform. These are to (i) build high-level political commitment toward open government, (ii) empower government reformers through strategic civic engagement and (iii) support effective engagement by civil society organizations (CSOs). There exists a virtuous cycle between the state and non-state actors to relate effectively for open government commitments to be achieved. This process is expected to evolve into a virtuous cycle that will generate increasingly ambitious reforms, enhance citizen participation, and produce stronger and impact results. The idea is that the more civil society is engaged, the higher the likelihood of NAP policies and programs to be meaningful, ambitious, and to be implemented. In the words of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, “Openness indeed empowers the civil society to become a partner of government in the process of development. In that way, the government and the citizenry can accomplish so much more in terms of political, social and economic development”

Adekunle Lukman Adefolahan

Senior Program Manager

Public and Private Development Center (PPDC)

lukman@ppdc.org 

+2348027942603