CSOs Mobilise Citizens To Hold Nigerian Legislators Accountable

Civil society organisations (CSOs) have tasked Nigerian citizens to become more active in assessing the performance of legislators in order to promote accountability and transparency thereby strengthening the democratic system.

This was the focus of a Strategic Stakeholders Coalition Meeting under the auspices of the Coalition for Legislative Governance Accountability in Nigeria (CoLGAN) aimed at strengthening legislative Governance Accountability in Nigeria through the ERGAF-AFRICA NASS Barometer Report Project.

Speaking during the meeting in Abuja , the executive director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Rafsanjani, said it has become incumbent on CSOs to collaborate more to enhance legislative accountability and transparency in Nigeria.

Rafsanjani said the initiative was built on three key pillars: advocacy, capacity enhancement and legislative monitoring, adding that while several organisations in Nigeria have been working independently on aspects of legislative engagement, there is a growing need for a more formidable and coordinated network that can consolidate efforts and drive sustainable impact.

“There are a number of organisations in Nigeria working on advocacy, capacity building and legislative monitoring. But what we are trying to do now is to see how we can come together as a more formidable network,” he said.

He said further that the proposed network would focus on information sharing, performance tracking and evaluation of the legislature, conducting legislative public opinion polls and providing technical support for data entry and verification.

“It is about promoting knowledge of the activities of the legislature which many Nigerians don’t really have much of. It is also about deploying digital tools and social media to capture legislative activities and improve media engagement.

“Our objective is not just to promote legislative accountability at the national level but also to ensure that it is instituted in the various state Houses of Assembly in Nigeria,” he stated.

Also speaking, the head, Impact, Christian Aid West and Central Africa, Mr Temitope Fashola, said his organisation will continue to boost efforts aimed at strengthening legislative accountability and democratic governance in the country.

Represented by the organisation’s programme manager, Mr Ugochukwu Munachi, Fashola said the accountability tools developed through the initiative had a significant potential to deepen public oversight and strengthen policy dialogue.

He called for sustained collaboration and wider adoption among civil society groups, development partners and policymakers even as he urged stakeholders to build a renewed coalition for legislative transparency.

The president of ERGAF-Africa, Dr. Chibuzo Okereke, said the barometer system was designed to empower citizens with data-oriented tools to conduct oversight of the legislature, which he assured will enable them to participate in the policy process, influence reforms and engage in participatory democracy.

“Legislative practice and procedure is a complex, dynamic and technical area, and advocacy and knowledge sharing is important for citizens to be equipped.

“So this barometer offers us data-driven tools for us to assess those key roles of the legislature.

“What we have done is to reduce this important constitutional role that is critical to our democratic survival into empirical data that is key to advancing our democracy across key areas,” he said.