The Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) has urged critical stakeholders to sustain the gains being recorded by the World Bank-supported States’ Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme.

Ifeanyi Ugwuoke, PERL’s national programme manager, made the call in Kano on Wednesday at a two-day event to enhance citizens’ understanding of SFTAS-related publications.

Mr Ugwuoke said that PERL, a governance programme of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in collaboration with Open Government Partnership (OGP), would continue to support transparency in governance.

He said the government and development partners had invested huge resources and reforms to strengthen the governance process and citizens’ engagement.

According to him, citizens and government need to work together towards sustaining the programme beyond its lifespan following the recorded gains.

Mr Ugwuoke added that in collaboration with OGP Nigeria Secretariat and other critical stakeholders, PERL had developed a Guide to enhance citizens’ understanding of SFTAS-related publications by the state governments.

“The SFTAS programme for results is coming to an end, and the critical question is how the laudable progress being recorded can be sustained beyond the lifespan of the programme,” Mr Ugwuoke explained. “Several efforts are being made by the various SFTAS implementing agencies to ensure that the government continues to supply citizens with the requisite information as prescribed by the programme.”

He further noted that a crucial part of the sustainability of the SFTAS reforms “is the ability of the citizens to understand, analyse and use such information to hold the government accountable.”

Mr Ugwuoke pointed out critical stakeholders are expected “to use the guide to increase citizens’ understanding of the documents so that they will continue to engage the governance process.”

(NAN)