By Egede Sylvester
To review and update the Ebonyi State Open Government Partnership (OGP) Action Plan for 2025-2027, USAID Nigeria’s State Accountability, Transparency, and Effectiveness (State2State Activity) has concluded a 5-day residential workshop.
The workshop, held at Nike Lake Resorts Enugu, aimed to review and update the second State Action Plan 2022-2024 (SAP2) and develop the third State Action Plan 2025-2027.
In his welcome remarks, the State2State Team Lead, Dr. Sam Onyia, explained that the Open Government Partnership is a global initiative bringing together governments, civil society organizations, and citizens to promote transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement in governance. He noted that it was launched in 2011 to protect civil space and provide civil liberty in Nigeria at both national and subnational levels.
Dr. Onyia stated that the workshop would review and update the costed implementation plan of SAP2 in Ebonyi State to align it with the proposal for SAP3. He added that the workshop would also onboard the newly constituted steering committee to understand their roles and responsibilities and synergize their activities with the OGP technical working groups in driving OGP implementation. Finally, an action plan on agreed next steps will be developed to guide the implementation of SAP3.
In his opening remarks, the Principal Secretary to the Ebonyi State Governor and Co-Chairman of OGP representing the government side, Chief Mathias Adum, thanked USAID State2State for their various interventions, activities, trainings, and programs aimed at ensuring good governance in Ebonyi State. He solicited the inclusion of local government in the OGP thematic working groups to integrate grassroots input.
He assured the participants of the Ebonyi State Government’s support and cooperation for the effective and successful implementation of the State Action Plan 3.
On his part, the OGP Co-Chair in charge of civil society, Mr. Oliver Aja Chima, urged participants to place significant emphasis on the workshop, noting that the collaboration between government and civil society organizations has been fruitful. He emphasized that the review meeting would help improve the implementation of SAP3.
In a presentation, the Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist and OGP focal person for State2State, Ejiro Okotie, discussed mainstreaming Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) in the OGP State Action Plan. She provided participants with tools and GESI principles to make the implementation of the State Action Plan more inclusive.
Chief Uchenna Arisukwu from the national secretariat of OGP delivered lectures on understanding the OGP process and commitment. He maintained that OGP is a policy approach to governance reforms aimed at building a culture of transparency, civic participation, and accountability, which increases confidence in government and strengthens social contracts.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist from the OGP National Secretariat, Mr. Mooreino Diftuffe, presented modalities for the delivery of State Action Plan 3, highlighting essential needs for the program team to effectively manage their roles and responsibilities.
The 5-day workshop featured plenary and technical sessions, where participants agreed to increase the OGP thematic groups to five, focusing on Environment and Climate Change, Peace Building and Conflict Management, Citizen and Local Government Engagement, Fiscal Transparency, and Access to Information. The State Steering Committee Members were 20, with a mandate that cuts across all thematic areas in SAP3. The updated State Action Plan will strengthen and sustain the implementation of OGP in Ebonyi State.
In a vote of thanks at the end of the workshop, the Chairman of Ebonyi State Local Government Service Commission, Chief Romanus Nwasum, and the Clerk of the State House of Assembly, Mrs. Blessing Uche Edene, commended USAID State2State for their partnership with Ebonyi State, which they said has helped reshape the future of the state and its people. They assured participants of the continuity of the program in Ebonyi State.