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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Government on Tuesday launched the Presidential Delivery Tracks (PDT) and Central Delivery Coordinating Unit (CDCU) website to track and monitor government projects across the country.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, while unveiling the website at the State House Conference Center, Abuja, said that the CDCU was introduced in 2019 towards the achievement of the nine priority goals of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
“The PDT/CDCU App is a co-creation platform that aims to connect citizens to governance in Nigeria by increasing citizens’ access to the Federal Government’s Presidential priority policies, programmes, and projects.
“The goal of the PDT/CDCU is to promote transparency and expand access to reporting on presidential priority policies, programmes and projects.
“This is by incorporating citizens as the third layer of reporting to offer vital information that will facilitate effective service delivery. Over the last two years, the PDT/CDCU had successfully driven FG’s delivery initiative to incorporate a systematic feedback mechanism from the citizens into the design and operationalisation of its Performance Management System.
“This is in recognition of the critical roles of the citizens in promoting inclusive and citizen-centered governance,” Mustapha said.
He also listed the priority areas as Stabilise the Macroeconomy; Achieve Agriculture and Food Security; Ensure Energy Sufficiency in Power and Petroleum Products; Improve Transportation and other Infrastructure; Drive Industrialisation focusing on SMEs; Improve Health, Education and Productivity of Nigerians; Enhance Social Inclusion and reduce poverty; Fight Corruption and improve Governance; and Provide Security for all citizens.
According to him, the objective of developing the ‘Citizens App’ and the website was to make it possible for citizens to, among others, report accurately and provide feedback on the implementation of government’s programmes and projects within their localities.
He said, “The CDCU intends to empower citizens to make their voices heard, build a citizens engagement programme that works and participation that increases benefits, if discussed with the people.”
On her part, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said that the website was a citizens-based mobile tracking app which allows them to send on-the-spot feedback on project implementation aimed at promoting public accountability.
According to her, the device would also improve service delivery by all government institutions, especially that public accountability in service delivery plays an important role in government institutions and the nation’s economy.
Ahmed said, “Indeed, it could be successfully argued that the economic well-being of any country is dependent, to a very large extent, on the strength, integrity, and complexity of its institutions and on its accountability to governmental services.
“Thus, promoting public accountability and improving service delivery in government institutions are initiated to ensure that such objectives are achieved.”
Also, the Director (Development) Foreign Commonwealth and Development, Dr. Chris Pycroft, said that officials and contractors should face sanctions or costs if programmes are not implemented.
He, however, commended the Federal Government for the successful execution of the project in Nigeria.
“The Presidential Delivery Tracker represents an important step in the transparency and accountability of government business. The UK has been a strong ally of the government’s effort to open the governance space.
“This initiative is commendable and should be encouraged across the three tiers of government. It is important that citizens not only provide feedback on the implementation of government projects, but that citizens demand actions if projects are not delivered.
“Officials and contractors should face sanctions or costs if programmes are not implemented. It is also important that prior to project implementation, citizens are part of programme conception and that government projects reflect the needs of citizens. This is critical for building the social contract between citizens and government,” Pycroft said.
On her part, the incoming Co-Chair (Non-State Actors) OGP Nigeria, Obialunanma Nnaobi-Ayodele, said that the app will track delivery of projects across nine areas, all very closely aligned with the commitments co-created by government and non-state actors in National Action Plans 1 (completed in 2019); 2 (in final stages of implementation) and 3 which is currently being finalized, since President Buhari signed Nigeria on to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Initiative in 2016.
She pledged that the civil society will continue to work together with government to see that the values for which this project was conceived are delivered, while continuing to hold government accountable to its responsibilities.
“We would like to see tangible results that reflect the measure of transparency of Government (to what degree does the app enhance disclosure); the measure of trust (to what degree do citizens trust that their engagement with the app will translate to positive outcomes); and the measure of participation (what percentage of the population is using it),” Ayodele said.
