Akwa Ibom Losing Benefits over Refusal to Sign on to OGP, Says Policy Alert

By Bassey Anthony in Uyo

 Policy Alert, a non-governmental organisation championing good governance and accountability, has urged the Akwa Ibom state government to sign on to the Open Government Partnership(OGP).

The organisation noted that the state was missing out of the potential benefits that accrue to state which have already signed on the OGP, adding 23 states in the country including Abuja Municipal Council have signed up.

OGP is a mulitateral initiation that aims to secure concrete commitments from national and subnational governments to promote open government, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.

Co-founder of the of the organisation, Mr. Tijah Bolton Akpan, said this in his paper on the “Role of the Media in Budget Tracking and Coverage”, presented yesterday during the ongoing retreat of the Correspondents’ Chapel of NUJ Council, Akwa Ibom State Council.

Akpan said that despite commendable steps taken by the state government in the area of budget reforms Akwa Ibom was yet to gain from the benefits of OGP.