Isiyaku Ahmed
The Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Professional Bodies, People with Disabilities (PWDs) in a poll conducted at the Kano Anti-Corruption Institute, Goron Dutse, 16th December, 2020, elected members into the Open Government Partnership (OGP) State Steering Committee.
The OGP CSO Adviser, Isiyaku Ahmed doubled as the empire with support from the OGP Secretariate and Registerar, Kano Anti-Corruption Institute, Barr Zakiyya Haruna as observer.
The election had a huge participation of CSOs in attendance.
In his opening remarks, outgoing government Co-Chair and Chairman, Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission, and Muhuyi Magaji Rimingado commend the state OGP for the successes it achieved so far, saying, more can be done.
He urged members of CSO to work harmoniously with government actors for the development of the state using the OGP platform and wished the contestants well in the election.
On her part, the outgoing CSO Co-Chair, Halima Ben Umar emphasized on co-creation and inclusivity; OGP is all about transparency and accountability, adding that there is no room for secrecy in the way things are done in public service anymore.
“Thank you for what we have achieved together, I feel happy that despite all the challenges, the election will be conducted for the incoming CSO steering committee members,” she said.
The CSO members were elected into the OGP State Steering Committee and Thematic areas of Anti-corruption, Fiscal Transparency, Service Delivery, Access to Justice, Access to Information and Citizens Engagement. Professional bodies, Private sector and PWDs also have representations.
The incoming elected officials are; Abdulrazaq Alkali, CSO Co-Chair, Rabi Yusuf Gezawa, Incoming Co-Chair, with Ibrahim Garba Maryam, Halima Ben Umar, Dr. Abdulsalam Kani, Muhammad Yahaya, Abdulrahaman Abdu, Umar Saleh Anka and Hadiza Kishimi as members.
The newly elected State Steering Committee Members are to serve for two years (2021 to 2023) from the date of inauguration and review the existing Kano state OGP action plan.
Those elected into the position of thematic leads are; Zuwaira Omar Mohammad, Citizens Engagement Lead, Shehu Musa Gora, PWD’s Lead, Peter Hassan Tijani, Access to Information Lead, Aminu Bala, Service Delivery Lead, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Anti-Corruption Lead, Akibu Hamisu, Fiscal Transparency Lead and Comrade Haruna A. Ayagi, Access to Justice.
In his acceptance speech, the CS incoming Co-Chair, Abdulrazaq Alkali said: “my leadership is for all, this includes those who vote for and against me; everybody will be carried along.”
“I want you to know that OGP is government driven, so, to do more and achieve more, we must see ourselves as government partners working for the development of Kano State and Nigeria in general.
“One of my key deliverables is to make sure we collectively showcase what Kano state have done and plan to do in the future under the OGP initiative for people to see at subnational, national and global level.
“We’re going to use the OGP platform to push for policy reforms were necessary in mutual and respectful consultation with our government counterparts,” he emphasized.
He thanked the leadership of government Co-chair Barr. Muhuyi Magaji for supporting the transparent transition with kind words, logistics and encouragement, most especially without interfering in the process.
OGP is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from national and sub-national governments to promote open government, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.
