SUMMARY OF PRESENTATIONS AT ANEEJ CASAN MEET.

Background

The ANEEJ Civil Society Advocacy to Support Anti-Corruption in Nigeria CASAN was borne out of a well-wrought plan to deepen CSO and media involvement and support for the Federal Government’s Anti-Corruption project. Key questions which assisted with the formulation of the hypothesis behind CASAN include the following: how can CSOs galvanize stakeholders from the demand aisle? How and to what extent can the media in the millennium bring government and the Nigerian people together to confront issues of corruption, inequality and mismanagement?

Three presentations  – the one by ANEEJ deputy Executive Director, Leo Atakpu, the other by Mukuolu Adesina of the Bureau of Public Procurement in the Presidency, Abuja, and that by Cynthia Ojukwu of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja, set the tone for the very successful meeting in Abuja on the warm day of  January 24, 2017.

These are the presentations: 

     Presentation 1: REV DAVID UGOLOR/LEO ATAKPU/ – THE CASAN DREAM  

Civil Society Advocacy to Support Anti-corruption in Nigeria (CASAN) –Enhancement of CSO and Media Capacity to participate in and support anti-corruption effort of Nigerian government.

Background

• Nigeria is rich but govt. is unable to significantly improve the living standard of the people
• Abuse of power expressed in large scale corruption/mismanagement of public funds
• Fueled by lack of transparency and accountability in governance – see Transparency International (CPI)
• Weak governance indicators – seethe World Governance Indicator – Country Report for Nigeria, 1996 – 2014

• Impact of corruption has been negative

• Public officials & collaborators thus take advantage of these weaknesses to undermine the process and steal public funds for their private gain
• Late Gen. Sani Abacha – $7billion looted, Thabo Mbeki Report – ($217.7bn, 1970 – 2008), Global Financial Integrity Report – ($17.8bn 2004 – 2013), Pension and Oil Subsidy scams etc

• Poor implementation of anti-corruption laws and conventions including UNCAC & low citizen knowledge on the issues
• Weak implementation of UNCAC – Chapter II Articles 6 – 14 corruption prevention and Article 20 and 51 – Non-conviction based approach to fighting corruption and asset recovery
• The second cycle UNCAC Review Process(2015-2020) also include Nigeria and it covers Chapter 11 and Chapter V
• Nigerian Government joined the Open Governance Partnership(OGP) on the 20^th June,2016 as the 70^th Country

Theory of Change

• Contribute to addressing corruption issues in Nigeria by enhancing the capacity of CSOs to participate in and support anti-corruption effort of Nigerian government and also fulfil its UNCAC commitments

• Obj 1: Build the capacity of CSOs on the concept of Open Government Partnership (OGP) and the UNCAC to support their policy advocacy around the issues.

• Obj 2: Support CSOs engagement in UNCAC 2^nd review mechanism process (Chapter 2 & 5) and implementation of OGP
• Obj 3: Raise public awareness on the issues through the launch of the “support open government partnership” campaign
• supported by UNDP under the EU funded 10^th European Development Fund (EDF)

Achieving objective 1

Short term result:

• Enhanced capacity of at least 90 participants leading to journalists doing features & CSOs engaging govt. on the issues
• To be achieved through 3 capacity building workshops in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt

Indicators:

• of CSOs trained
• of media reports on the issues
• of CSOs engaging govt.
• BPP make progress with set up of open contracting Portal and other platforms
• designate focal person(s) driving different aspect of the issues
• Update from govt. on implementation of OGP

MOVs

• Newspaper reports, letters to Attorney general, attendance sheet, photo

Achieving objective 2

Short term result:

• CSOs participate & engage with the 2^nd UNCAC review process

This can be achieved by:

• Bringing Nigerian focal person(s) in the review process & CSOs to meet
• Commission consultant to review UNCAC implementation in Nigeria and identify gaps
• CSOs provide feedback to govt. on areas of non-implementation

Indicator(s)

• Report submitted by consultant
• of CSOs involved in providing feedback to govt.

MOV

• Journalists will be part of the meeting & media report will serve as MOV
• Copy of report and CSOs communication/feedback to govt.
• Media report

Achieving objective 3

Short term result:

• Improved knowledge on gap in UNCAC implementation & OGP principles
• at least 2 million persons (ESTIMATE) reached via public awareness activities

This will be achieved through

• Appearance on AIT with govt. official to discuss the issues
• Launch “support OGP campaign
• Road show
• Printing and use of IEC material

Indicators

• of flyers produced & distributed during road show
• Govt response to issues raised during public awareness activities
• & content of comments on podcast/ANEEJ TV

MOV

• Video, photos, podcast, letters, newspaper reports

Concrete Outputs/Results

• ANEEJ is already engaging PACAC
• BPP commits to working with ANEEJ on CASAN project
• Focal person(s) @ BPP taking lead on OGP implementation introduced to ANEEJ
• Focal person(s) @ Min of Justice taking lead on

UNCAC 2^nd UNCAC review process introduced to ANEEJ

• Roll out plan and time table of OGP implementation made available to ANEEJ

Concrete Output/Results

• Civil Society National Steering Committee on OGP implementation identified
• Draft Research report on UNCAC implementation in Nigeria is ready with some concrete recommendations for all Stakeholders in the anti-corruption work
• Inception meeting which aims at bringing all stakeholders together is holds today to share the project with you and enjoin you to be part of its success story.

Key Advocacy Opportunities

• The ongoing review mechanism of the United Nations Convention Against

Corruption(UNCAC) which include Nigeria

• The lessons from the first second review mechanism and the ongoing second review mechanism of UNCAC( Chapter 11 and V)
• Chapter 11 focusing on prevention
• Chapter V focusing on Asset Recovery
• FG has set up National Committee to coordinate the Second Review Mechanism.

                        Presentation 2 (summary): MUKUOLU ADESINA, the Presidency.

OPEN CONTRACTING PRINCIPLES

• These Principles reflect the belief that increased disclosure and participation in public contracting will have the effects of making contracting more competitive and fair, improving contract performance, and securing development outcomes.
• While recognizing that legitimate needs for confidentiality may justify exemptions in exceptional circumstances, these Principles are intended to guide governments and other stakeholders to affirmatively disclose documents and information related to public contracting in a manner that enables meaningful understanding, effective monitoring, efficient performance, and accountability for outcomes.
• These Principles are to be adapted to sector-specific and local contexts and are complementary to sectorbased transparency initiatives and global open government movements

Affirmative Disclosure

1. Governments shall recognize the right of the public to access information related to the formation, award, execution, performance, and completion of public contracts.
2. Public contracting shall be conducted in a transparent and equitable manner, in accordance with publicly disclosed rules that explain the functioning of the process, including policies regarding disclosure.

3. Governments shall require the timely, current, and routine publication of enough information about the formation, award, execution, performance, and completion of public contracts to enable the public, including media and civil society, to understand and monitor as a safeguard against inefficient, ineffective, or corrupt use of public resources.

This would require affirmative disclosure of:

• Contracts, including licenses, concessions, permits, grants or any other document exchanging public goods, assets, or resources (including all annexes, schedules and documents incorporated by reference) and any amendments thereto;
• Related pre-studies, bid documents, performance evaluations, guarantees, and auditing reports.
• Information concerning contract formation, including:
• The planning process of the procurement;
• The method of procurement or award and the justification thereof;
• The scope and specifications for each contract;
• The criteria for evaluation and selection;
• The bidders or participants in the process, their validation documents, and any procedural exemptions for which they qualify;
• Any conflicts of interest uncovered or debarments issued;
• The results of the evaluation, including the justification for the award; and
• The identity of the contract recipient and any statements of beneficial ownership provided;

(d) Information related to performance and completion of public contracts,   including information  regarding subcontracting arrangements, such as:

• General schedules, including major milestones in execution, and any changes thereto;
• Status of implementation against milestones;
• Dates and amounts of stage payments made or received

(against total amount) and the source of those payments;

• Service delivery and pricing;
• Arrangements for ending contracts;
• Final settlements and responsibilities;
• Risk assessments, including environmental and social impact assessments;

• Assessments of assets and liabilities of government related to the contract;
• Provisions in place to ensure appropriate management of ongoing risks and liabilities; and
• Appropriate financial information regarding revenues and expenditures, such as time and cost overruns, if any.

4. Governments shall develop systems to collect, manage, simplify and publish contracting data regarding the formation, award, execution, performance and completion of public contracts in an open and structured format, in accordance with the Open Contracting Data Standards as they are developed, in a user-friendly and searchable manner.

5. Contracting information made available to the public shall be as complete as possible, with any exceptions or limitations narrowly defined by law, ensuring that citizens have effective access to recourse in instances where access to this information is in dispute.
6. Contracting parties, including international financial institutions, shall support disclosure in future contracting by precluding confidentiality clauses, drafting confidentiality narrowly to cover only permissible limited exemptions, or including provisions within the contractual terms and conditions to allow for the contract and related information to be published.

Participation, Monitoring, and Oversight

1. Governments shall recognize the right of the public to participate in the oversight of the formation, award, execution, performance, and completion of public contracts.
2. Governments shall foster an enabling environment, which may include legislation, that recognizes, promotes, protects, and creates opportunities for public consultation and monitoring of public contracting, from the planning stage to the completion of contractual obligations.
3. Governments shall work together with the private sector, donors, and civil society to build the capacities of all relevant stakeholders to understand, monitor and improve public contracting and to create sustainable funding mechanisms to support participatory public contracting.

Participation, Monitoring, and Oversight (Cont’d.)

4. Governments have a duty to ensure oversight authorities, including parliaments, audit institutions, and implementing agencies, to access and utilize disclosed information, acknowledge and act upon citizen feedback, and encourage dialogue and consultations between contracting parties and civil society organizations in order to improve the quality of contracting outcomes.
5. With regard to individual contracts of significant impact, contracting parties should craft strategies for citizen consultation and engagement in the management of the contract.

Standard, Schema, Guidance

• A standard for what to publish and how to publish it as open data.

Focussing on what users need.

• A data schema for validation of published data;

Ensuring the technical interoperability of data.

• Collected guidance on publishing and using data

To maximise effective use.

• Information on all stages of the contracting process;
• An open schema based on JSON schema – updated through a multi-stakeholder governance process;
• Designed around user need and global interoperability;
• An active user community, building tools, extensions and applications;
• A developing data quality framework – and free helpdesk service to support data validation;

See full presentation here: Open Contracting Principles

Presentation 3:  Cynthia Ojukwu, Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja

     UPDATES FROM FMOJ/OGP SECRETARIAT

Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative that focuses on improving government transparency, accountability and responsiveness to citizens through technology and innovation. The OGP was formally launched in 2011 when the 8 founding governments (Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States) endorsed the Open Government Declaration, and announced their country action plans. Since then OGP has welcomed the commitment of 62 additional governments, bringing to 70 the number countries that are currently members of the initiative. Nigeria formally joined the OGP in July 2016 two months after President Muhammadu Buhari attended the Anti-Corruption Summit organized by the government of the United Kingdom in May, 2016. At that summit, he reaffirmed the Nigerian government’s commitment to strengthen anti-corruption reforms and bring integrity to governance through leadership by example. Consultation meetings were held to afford government officials from MDAs and CSO members the opportunity to make inputs to the Country Statement on Anti-Corruption made by the President in London. The inputs derived from the consultations as well as the President’s Country Statement formed Nigeria’s OGP thematic areas.

They are: FISCAL TRANSPARENCY, ANTI-CORRUPTION/ASSET DECLARATION, ACCESS TO INFORMATION and CITIZENS’ ENGAGEMENT.

Nigeria as an OGP partner has set up a National Steering Committee. This was jointly done by CSO members and government officials in a meeting where they self-selected themselves. The National Steering Committee made up of government officials and CSO members jointly developed the Nigeria-OGP two-year National Action Plan. This was formally presented at the OGP Global Summit in Paris in December 2016.

See full presentation here: ANEEJ CASAN PROJECT INCEPTION MEETING CYNTHIA OJUKWU