By Ben Ogbemudia
The Civil Society Advocacy to Support Anti-Corruption and Rule of Law in Nigeria (CASARN) project, has opened up a number of opportunities for Civil Society Organisations (NSOs) to advance their work in a number of areas.
This view was expressed by the Executive Director of the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev. David Ugolor, in his welcome address, during the CASARN town hall meeting, held at the Vichi Gates on Wednesday.
Rev. Ugolor said that some of the areas where CSOs have advanced their work include: “research and publication on key governance and Anti-corruption issues, procurement observation and reporting using the open contracting portal and following up on bid openings by MDAs, budget monitoring using the Edo monitor-me portal, advocacy for the passage of freedom of information law in Edo State, monitoring the implementation of Edo State integrity and Accountability Strategy, participation in the budget process.
The ANEEJ boss was of the opinion that:” Through the implementation of the CASARN project, ANEEJ has evolved an innovative compliance ranking of Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies on the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal ( NOCOPO). This ranking is the first of its kind in Nigeria and has been acknowledged by the OGP national Secretariat, open contracting partnership International, Bureau of Public Procurement, development partners, and other key stakeholders. The purpose of the ranking is to encourage MDAs to comply with the use of NOCOPO by publishing procurement data for public access and use, thereby improving transparency and accountability in the procurement process”
The CASARN project’s town hall meeting, which is part of the implementation of the Rule of Law and Anti-corruption (ROLAC) programme, deliberated on “what went well, what didn’t work well and made recommendations for the future”, was attended by a cross-section of Civil Society Organisations within Edo State and Nigeria.
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The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has been implementing the CASARN project since December 2019, and it is expected to end by April 2021; several CSOs and journalists have been trained on several related issues.
