The Borno government says it is committed to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to strengthen accountability, transparency, and citizens’ participation in governance.

Bum Munguno, the Agency for Coordination of Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Response executive secretary, disclosed this on Thursday.

Mr Munguno, who led the Borno delegation on a learning visit to Kaduna, said subscribing to the OGP was crucial for rebuilding the state after years of Boko Haram insurgency.

“Signing onto the OGP is very critical for us because you cannot preach and practice good governance without the voice of the people. However, the voice of the people can only be captured when you have open governance,” explained the Borno official. “We have seen OGP in practice in Kaduna state, and we want to key in to change our approach to governance.”

The OGP principle of co-creation and co-implementation of programmes by the government and the citizens would “significantly catch the aspiration and voices of the people in Borno,” he stressed.

“This will entrench the needed citizens’ participation in the governance process in the state,” added Mr Monguno.

(NAN)