The Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council, Hon. Christopher Zakka Maikalangu, has said his administration will remain focused and committed to transparency and accountability “irrespective of intimidation and harassment from those who feed fat on corruption.”
Speaking Wednesday in Abuja, during a working visit by the CEO, Open Government Partnership (OGP), Nigeria, Mr. Sanjay Phradan, Maikalangu said the council is presently working on the digitisation of all revenue generation and collection activities, “which we shall unveil in no distant time; in a bid to revamp performances of all revenue heads.”
He said one of the greatest achievements of AMAC was membership of OGP as it has significantly led to the re-enforcement of good governance by entrenching widespread anti-corruption consciousness, “including an improvement in complying with transparency and due process mechanism in the conduct of governance in the Area Council.”
He said: “The seed my predecessor planted is not only yielding positive impact, but waxing stronger and producing results, which we are celebrating at the moment. It may interest you to know that since our induction into this prestigious global body, the Council has strived to conduct Government business transparently, just as management has ensured that people understood and appreciate the workings of representative democracy in the context of our transactions.
“The Council has held town hall meetings; made publications on projects, involved people, our major stakeholders from projects conception to completion. We have in addition, strengthened our feedback strategy by embarking on conscious publicity drive that explains our policy direction and programmes of action.
“Aside from the objective of the OGP as a platform for entrenching good governance, fostering inclusiveness and compliance to laid down laws and acceptable mechanisms for transparent and accountable leadership, we are fully guided by OGP’s leadership and remain grateful for that.
“One of the greatest achievements of Abuja Municipal Area Council in the recent past is without any doubt, AMAC’s membership of the Open Government Partnership. It has very significantly led to the re-enforcement of good governance by entrenching widespread anti-corruption consciousness including an improvement in complying with transparency and due process mechanism in the conduct of governance in the Area Council.
“At the inception of my administration barely a month ago, in line with the framework of the OGP, I ordered a comprehensive audit of all the financial activities of the technical partners with the council on revenue generation sector to make appraisal and recommendations that would promote best practices in the sector in our efforts to attune to the focus of OGP which is, to build a strong institutions devoid of corruption.
“What is in the pipeline is the digitisation of all revenue generation and collection activities, which we shall unveil in no distant time in a bid to revamp performances of all revenue heads.
“The Council has so far, focused on citizen’s engagement as her maiden Action Plan. This is not to say we haven’t fared well in the other three components of fiscal transparency; Access to information, Public disclosure of assets and Citizen’s engagement. The objective of this commitment is to improve citizen’s engagement and participation in the budgetary process.
“We have held townhall meetings at ward levels sensitising and educating citizens on budget processes which culminated to the creation of a robust 2022 budget calendar and its publication.”
Also speaking, the CEO OGP Nigeria, Mr. Phradan, said he visited AMAC to interact with the officials on how transparency and accountability can be incorporated in governance.
