Afegbua lauds ANEEJ for Sustaining Advocacy For Good Governance and Anti-Corruption

 

Edo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Prince Kassim  Afegbua has commended the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice,  ANEEJ for sustaining the advocacy for good governance and anti-Corruption to minimize the incidence of corruption in Nigeria.

The Commissioner who made the commendation at the Civil Society Advocacy to Strengthen Anti-corruption Reforms in Nigeria, CASARN project close out meeting in Benin city, said the Executive Director of ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor has remained consistent in his ideals.

Prince Kassim Afegbua said the Ministry of Information and Strategy  will deepen collaboration with ANEEJ and other Civil Society Organisations, CSO's in the advocacy for good governance in the state

" I want to appreciate all change agents helping ANEEJ to drive the issues to make society move forward. When institutions are put in place, we need human beings, strong personalities to drive these institutions with a sense of patriotism.

"The Ministry of Information and Strategy is your ally because we believe that a government must not be afraid of criticism, we welcome constructive criticism. Advocacy such as this is good, we will keep talking and engaging," the Commissioner noted.

The Executive Director of ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor disclosed that the CASARN project was designed to contribute to reducing corruption through robust civil society advocacy, strengthening governance systems, improving service delivery, and supporting the implementation of key anti-Corruption reforms.

"Over the past fifteen months, the project has been implemented both at the sub-national level in Edo State and at the national level. It's strategic focus areas included assessing the management framework and effectiveness of Anti- Corruption and Transparency Units(ACTUs) in Federal MDA's, promoting MDA compliance with the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal (NOCOPO), advocating for the passage of the Whistleblower Protection Bill, and deepening transparency, accountability and anti-Corruption reforms at state level.

"As part of its achievements, the project secured commitment from Stakeholders to work collaboratively on the issues. In this regard we have been working with ICPC, Bureau of Public Procurement, Edo State Government, CSO's, media and other Stakeholders to advance the project issues.

"We generated two comprehensive reports, the first report is on the effectiveness of Anti- Corruption and Transparency Units in Federal MDA's. The second report assessed the level of compliance open Contracting and data publication on the NOCOPO portal.

"Both reports have actionable recommendations on how to improve the situation. Additionally, the " Governance and Democracy" talk show on ITV has been quite productive and reached millions of citizens even beyond the state.

"Our NOCOPO compliance assessment report revealed that nine key Federal institutions substantially complied with the SGF Circular of February 17, ,2025, requiring the submission of 2025 procurement plans and 2024 procurement records to the Bureau of Public Procurement through the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal NOCOPO platform.

"Today, we are pleased to recognize these institutions through the presentation of awards to them. The institutions are University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada; Federal Medical Center, Owo; National Obstetrics Fistula Center, Bauchi; Nigeria Institute for sports; Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission; University of Abuja Teaching Hospital; Federal Medical Center, Jabi  Abuja; Federal Medical Center, Makurdi; and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital. Many other MDA"s partially complied with the circular while many others failed to comply," he added.

The CASARN project was implemented by ANEEJ under the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption, RoLAC 11 programme, led by International IDEA with funding support from the European Union (EU)

A panel  moderated by Comrade Atakpu, ANEEJ Deputy Executive Director, recommended that the government should be intentional and provide Budget to finance reforms CSO's should collaborate with state actors to fight against corruption.





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