2023 Presidency: Transparency and Open Governance.
Looking into one of the characteristics of the future leader of the nation, Governor Yahaya Bello is imbued with a professional ethos acting in furtherance of the public good, the rule of law, transparent processes, and a strong civil society participation in public affairs.
World Bank defines Good Governance as the one epitomized by predictable, open, and enlightened policy-making.
In this light, transparency and accountability – as one of the characteristics of Good Governance, is a bedrock upon which Yahaya Bello built his administration, and this is perceptible in the institutionalization of the Bureau of Public Procurement to ensure compliance with the Public Procurement Act, which decentralized the procurement process and stimulated due diligence practices in Ministries, Department, and Agencies (MDAs). This has led to quality delivery of services as well as ensure value for public funds.
Furthermore, Governor Yahaya Bello has consistently ensured the publication of the State’s yearly financial statements. This qualified the State to participate in the World Bank’s States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Programme (SFTAS 2019) where it came out first position among other States.
The administration of His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello, has a deliberate policy of fidelity and cooperation with the Federal Government. This synchronization with the Federal Government has resulted in the injection of about N1.3Bn monthly into the State’s economy since February 2018, through the various Social Safety Net (SSN) and Social Intervention Programmes (SIPs).
About 179,156 beneficiaries have benefitted through the various programmes in the State ranging from N-Power, Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Conditional Cash Transfer (CTT) and Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP). These have helped to provide employment, increased intervention in public schools, market women economy and monthly grants to the poor and vulnerable in the State. institutionalizing it
Furthermore, Governor Yahaya Bello is responsive to the present and future needs of the society.
This can be seen in his deployment of the knowledge-based technology, Kogi State Open Governance and Accountability System (KOGAS) as well as the Kogi Digital Album – a platform meant to bridge the gap between government and the people.
It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of the minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making and they can as well see their democracy dividends translating to impactful policies, programmes and projects even as they have access to real-time monitoring and evaluation.
A Nigeria with an innovative leader like Yahaya Bello is a recipe for accelerated socio-economic development and sustainability.
