Access to information key to ending corruption in basic education – Journalist

Wed, Jun 19, 2019 | By publisher


Media

AJIBOLA Amzat, an Editor with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICR) said on Tuesday that access to information was key to ending corruption in the basic education sector.
Amzat stated this in a paper entitled “Access to Information, Public Procurement and Service Delivery: The ICIR Experience”, presented at a two-day national dialogue on open contracting data standard.
The dialogue was organised by Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in collaboration with MacArthur Foundation as part of effort to ensure accountability and eradicate corruption in contract processing.
He explained that access to information on public procurement was key to ensuring accountability, adding that it allows the media and civil society to act as effective watch dog on government system.
He said that contractors fleece government in UBEC school project contracts due to delay in providing information; provision of incomplete data and incomplete project passed as complete.
He pointed out that Chapter II, Section 22 of the 1999 constitution states that the media shall at all times be free to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.
“Section 2 (4) of the Freedom of Information Acts (FOI) also mandated public institutions to make information available to the public through print, electronic and online among others.
“Similarly, the Federal Government has made a commitment in the Procurement Act and Open Government Partnership to implement open contracting standard.
“The goal is to enhance transparency, accountability and citizens engagement in public procurement and fiscal responsibility,” he added.
Amzat, however, said that despite these laws and commitments, more than 100 agencies of 187 public institutions did not disclose information nor respond to FOI requests.
“This was based on the FOI ranking conducted by Public and Private Development Centre in 2018.
“Also, according to Bureau of public Service Reforms, less than 30 per cent of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies have functional websites to publish public records.
“Similarly, less than 25 per cent have functional telephone numbers and e-mail and those with websites hardly upload useful public records on their platforms.
“In the same vein, only 73 out of 900 public institutions submitted their report in 2017, representing 8.1 per cent compliance with the provision of the act.
“Consequently, the ICIR has filed 60 FOI requests between June 2018 to date, but only 17 were responded to,” he lamented.
He described ICIR as an independent, nonprofit media organisation that seeks to promote transparency and accountability in Nigeria through robust and objective investigative reporting.
He commended UBEC and MacArthur Foundation for the efforts to stem corruption in the basic education sector through open contracting data standard.
He, however, argued that corruption can be eradicated in public establishments only when information was made available to the public, stressing that corruption cannot thrive in a transparent atmosphere.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that UBEC in collaboration with MacArthur Foundation had on Monday began a two-day national dialogue on Open Contracting Data Standard to eradicate corruption and ensure due process in UBEC contracts processes.-NAN

BE

– June 19, 2019 @ 07;25 GMT |

 

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