Akure, Nigeria
Olamide Oladiji, speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly (ODHA), has announced the plans of the legislative arm of the Ondo State Government to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PROMAD Infotech Foundation.
Oladiji, who was represented by his deputy, Ololade Gbegudu, disclosed this while speaking at a closeout event for the 18 fellows of the Social Accountability Fellowship organised in the State by PROMAD in Akure on Tuesday.
The speaker disclosed to the gathering that discussions were ongoing with the Management of PROMAD to increase the number of fellows from 18 to 26, so that each state constituency will be duly represented.
He said, “This is a first-of-its-kind initiative, and the House has adopted it. I urge the fellows to remain steadfast and committed to securing a better future for our State.”
According to the speaker, the MoU would strengthen collaboration for citizen oversight to track, monitor and report government projects in their communities to the House.
This was contained in a statement issued by PROMAD on Wednesday and signed by its communications associate, Joseph Akujuobi.
“In June, PROMAD commenced the implementation of Strengthening Participation, Accountability and Transparency in States (SPATS) with the support of ALDA—European Association for Local Democracy, under the WYDE Civic Engagement Project, and implemented in collaboration with European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), Elbarlament, People in Need, and the European Partnership for Democracy and funded by the European Union (EU).
“As part of our advocacy under SPATS, PROMAD has engaged the Ondo State House of Assembly and other relevant government agencies to promote participatory and accountable governance in the State.
“When the MoU is signed, a new paradigm for citizens, especially young people in the State, to co-oversight public projects and directly make findings known to their lawmakers for speedy interventions,” the statement reads.
The statement revealed that the MoU will further strengthen the successes recorded by PROMAD under its flagship social accountability, FollowTheProjects.
Akujuobi added that the organisation was developing a new dashboard for real-time project monitoring and providing more accessibility to Nigerians.
