Reforms Bureau, Centre To Assess Transparency In Public Sector

Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch (CeFTIW) in partnership with the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has unveiled Transparency and Integrity Index (TII) methodology handbook 2023 on public institutions’ compliance with fiscal transparency and accountability laws in Nigeria.

The book details guide to the variables and scoring criteria to be used in the assessment of public institutions’ compliance to fiscal transparency and accountability laws in the country.

The ranking which comes next month aims to promote transparency by monitoring the publication of vital information that should rightfully be in the public domain, particularly through the websites and portals of public institutions in line with the principles of proactive disclosure.

The handbook has six rating thematic areas of focus for government institutions at the national, sub-national and local government level with variables to be drawn from websites integrity, fiscal transparency, open procurement, anti-corruption, citizens engagement and human resources and inclusion to benchmark the performances of MDAs towards good governance.

At its presentation yesterday in Abuja, the Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman CeFTIW, Ambassador Angela Nworgu, said the centre would evaluate institutions and provide a comprehensive report of how transparent and accountable government institutions are.

Earlier, director-general of BPSR, Dasuki Arabi, who commended the centre for the initiative, said the thrust of government to ensure that its fiscal instruments, policies and sustainable economy is attained cannot be achieved alone but with support from non- state actors as exemplified by the centre.

With the Development Bank of Nigeria scoring the highest of 52 percent in the 2022 assessment, the executive director of CeFTIW, Umar Yakubu, expressed optimism of seeing more improved performance by the MDAs in the 2023 ranking.