Kaduna State, Nigeria Design Report 2018-2020
- Action Plan: Kaduna State Action Plan 2018-2020
- Dates Under Review: 2018-2020
- Report Publication Year: 2020
Kaduna State’s first action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... represents an admirable step towards open government reform. Now familiar with OGP, Kaduna State should formalize the State Steering CommitteeThe Steering Committee is OGP’s executive decision-making body. Its role is to develop, promote and safeguard OGP’s values, principles and interests; establish OGP’s core ideas, policies, and ru... to ensure sustainable and well-documented OGP processes. In turn, the Steering Committee should increase commitments’ scope and specificity to develop ambitious future commitments to further the government’s anticorruption efforts.
| Table 1. At a glance
Participating since: 2018 Action plan development Action plan design Commitments |
Government Partnership (OGP) is a global partnership that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to create action plans that make governments more inclusive, responsive, and accountable. The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... monitors all action plans to ensure governments follow through on commitments. Kaduna State joined OGP in 2018. This report evaluates the design of Kaduna’s first action plan.
General overview of action plan
Kaduna was the first Nigerian state to join OGP in 2018. Its first action plan builds on previous open government initiatives and aligns with similar commitments at the federal level. The plan therefore offers opportunities for information sharing and mutual learning between levels of government. The action plan is also consistent with the 2016–2020 State Development Plan, which includes governance as a central theme.
The action plan was co-created by the State Steering Committee and five Technical Working Groups with equal government and civil society representation. The Committee held a two-day public consultation workshop to incorporate broader public input into the commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... drafts. However, the State Steering Committee could strengthen the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... through greater documentation of how working group members were selected and how public input was incorporated into the action plan.
The action plan features five commitments in the areas of participatory budgeting, open contractingA transparent procurement process, known as open contracting, increases competition, improves public service delivery, and ensures governments better value for their money. Technical specifications: C..., ease of doing business, access to information, and civic participation. Four commitments are expected to result in a moderate change in government practices. Commitment 3, on ease of doing business, is coded as minor. All commitments are relevant to OGP values and are specific enough to be verifiable. Some milestones throughout the action plan would benefit from greater specificity of intended actions and outcomes. Overall, Kaduna State’s first action plan sets a strong foundation for increasingly ambitious open government reforms in future commitments.
Table 2. Noteworthy commitments
| Commitment description | Moving forward | Status at the end of implementation cycle |
| Commitment 1 Participatory Budgeting: Increase budget transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More and citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More through Community Development Charters throughout the state budget process | To maximise this commitment’s impact, the office that processes community charters should inform citizens of how their feedback was incorporated into the state budget. The office should also encourage community charters to be developed inclusively, ensuring that marginalised community members are heard. The government could provide citizens’ guides and budgets in local languages and in formats accessible to nonliterate citizens. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle. |
| Commitment 2 Open Contracting Data Standards: Implement the Open Contracting Data Standards to improve accountability and transparency in the procurement process | For effective implementation, the Public ProcurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t... Authority should ensure contract information is simplified, published in a user-friendly format, and available in offline formats. The IRM researcher recommends expanding procurement data to cover all Local Government Councils and streamlining complaint and dispute mechanisms to reduce the length of bureaucratic procedures. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle. |
| Commitment 4 Access to Information: Pass the Bill on Freedom of Information | For effective implementation, educate civil society, media, and the public on their right to informationThe legal right to request information from the government allows the public to follow government decision-making, participate in ensuring better decisions, and hold the government accountable. Techni.... Consider producing simplified and translated versions of the law and publicise them online and offline. Any future versions of this commitment should consider establishing corresponding institutions. To fully implement the law, such institutions could include a dedicated Freedom of Information (FOI) Act Unit staffed with trained officers, associated procedures, and sanctions for noncompliance. Observation of the federal government’s implementation of FOI-related OGP commitments may provide valuable insights. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle. |
| Commitment 5 Citizens’ Feedback Portal: Increase and strengthen citizen-government engagement through multiple channels, such as the CitiFeeds app | To amplify this commitment’s open government impact, the government should provide public responses to citizen feedback received through the app and other channels. It should also proactively disclose relevant information. The government could explore how to strengthen the legal mandate to respond to citizen feedback on technology platforms. | Note: this will be assessed at the end of the action plan cycle. |
Recommendations
IRM recommendations aim to inform the development of the next action plan and guide implementation of the current action plan. Please refer to Section V: General Recommendations for more details on each of the below recommendations.
Table 3. Five KEY IRM recommendations
| Formalise the OGP process to ensure sustainability. Establish a clear role and mandate for the State Steering Committee. Seek a legal mandate and budgetary provisions for OGP activities. |
| Increase documentation of the co-creation process. Update and expand Kaduna’s OGP repositoryAccess to relevant information is essential for enabling participation and ensuring accountability throughout the OGP process. An OGP repository is an online centralized website, webpage, platform or ... and website to publish evidence, updates, and other documentation of OGP processes. |
| Add more specific activities in milestones, to ensure commitments are verifiable. Aim to design milestones that are “SMART”: specific, measurable, accountable, relevant, and time bound. |
| Increase the scope of commitment activities, to raise the level of ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po.... Design commitments with a focus on the problem to be addressed rather than the instrument or document to be created. |
| The State Steering Committee should prioritise discussion on continuing and expanding Commitment 1 on participatory budgeting in the second action plan. Future iterations of this commitment could focus on government responsiveness, inclusive civic participation, and facilitation of participation throughout the entire budget cycle. |
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