BY ADEYEMI ROBINSON-ADEFIOYE LAGOS
Ekiti State, under the leadership of DR JOHN KAYODE FAYEMI has been admitted into the group of states that are members of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) community in Nigeria making Ekiti the first state in the SouthWest region to be admitted having met the required criteria.
OGP, a multilateral initiative, with membership in 79 countries, was launched at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in 2016. It is a global group geared towards promoting transparency and inclusive governance, and creating opportunities for harnessing new technologies for effective service delivery to the benefit of the citizens of the State.
OGP is designed to promote institutional partnership between government and citizens for joint planning, implementation and monitoring of government programmes and projects so as to engender all inclusive development while also curbing waste and corruption in Government.
To be admitted into OGP, governments must commit to upholding the principles of open and transparent government by endorsing the Open Government Declaration. Members must also meet the Eligibility Criteria and pass the OGP Values Check.
GOVERNOR FAYEMI who hailed the development, said his administration would continue to collaborate with the Federal Government and development partners to ensure all round development of the state.
He added that part of the vision of his government is to use its five- pillar development agenda to improve the quality of lives of the people of the state and return the state to the top position it once occupied in all indices of development.
