Govs' forum boosts states information accessibility with new portal

TO ensure faster accessibility to information, the Nigeria Governor's Forum has launched an information portal for the 36 states in the country.It was explained that the initiative would enable the warehousing of data on activities of states in Nigeria.Also, it was stated that a strategic partnership between the forum and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) resulted in the website and review process, stressing that it was entered into in 2010 to last till 2012, which may be renewed.According to a statement from the forum, the portal would ensure that laws enacted by states and the national ones, such as fiscal responsibility bill, which have been domesticated by them, are for the first time collated in one location.It added that the portal would also help in peer review of performances of governors following a base document released in July.According to the Director General of the forum's secretariat, Mr. Asishana Okauru, a preliminary tour of the states led to commencement of the projects, adding that challenges and benchmarks gathered during the tour were guides for the review mechanism.Okauru, at the launch in Abuja, said the forum is a development-driven organisation, which will popularise the mechanism.Speaking in the same vein, the national programme manager of State Partnership for Accountability, Responsiveness and Capability (SPARC), Mr. Joe Abah, said his organisation identified the forum and its secretariat as a hub for the states in the country.Abah explained that the DFID-sponsored-Sparc pieced together information for the website from paper files, books and electronic sources, adding that a preferred bidder for the project was selected after tender for the contract was advertised in national and international publications.According to him, information featured in the site include inaugural speeches of the 36 governors, others are state budgets, list of commissioners and special advisers in the cabinet. He said the details of the bills passed by the states, as well as the process of passing them, will be uploaded on the website.He noted that through it, members of the public could follow the process in the formulation of legislation at the state level, among others.
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