KDSG set to review citizens monitoring App, includes constituency projects

The Kaduna State Government says it will review its “Citizens Feedback App” to include Federal and State’s constituency projects for a robust citizens engagement in tracking projects.

The Commissioner for Planning and Budget Commission, Mr Thomas Gyang made this known in Kaduna on Wednesday.

He spoke when Malam Hamzat Lawal, the Chief Executive Officer of Connected Development (CODE), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) visited him in his office.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the App was inaugurated in 2017 to serve as a means of communication between the government and the residents of the state on the status of ongoing projects.

Gyang appealed to CODE to assist in sensitising citizens to effectively engage the App in monitoring and tracking ongoing projects being executed by the state government.

According to him, including the Federal and state’s constituency projects in the APP will significantly assist in adding value to constituency projects being executed across the state.

“I am particularly interested in tracking the execution of constituency projects due to the recent discovery of the status of some of the projects executed by one of the law makers in the state.

“What we discovered was either some of the claimed projects did not exist or were not functional.

“There is, therefore, the need to mobilise citizens to closely monitor the implementation of the projects and the citizen’s App will play a crucial role in that,” the commissioner said.

He said that the state government was doing extremely well in the delivery of projects across crucial sectors like education, health, and infrastructure.

He thanked CODE for supporting the state to get value for the resources being expended in the delivery of services to improve the livelihood of  residents of the state.

He said that CODE’s tracking of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) projects, as well as the health and sanitation sector through its Follow the Money project, had helped in sanitising the delivery of projects in the state.

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Earlier, Lawal had appealed to the commissioner to consider including both Federal and State’s constituency projects in the App, while CODE would help create the needed awareness among citizens to engage the App.

He said that CODE with support from MacArthur Foundation was implementing a three-year project tagged: “Deepening Citizens’ Interest in Government Spending and Addressing Accompanying Corrupt Practices (DeSPAAC)” in the state.

He said that the project was designed to deepen citizens interest in government spending and curb corrupt practices in the implementation of constituency projects.

According to him, including the constituency projects in the App will ensure robust citizens engagement for tracking what the government is doing, particularly as it affects federal constancy projects.

The CODE boss also presented the three-year impact assessment of its tracking activities in the state supported by MacArthur Foundation.

He commended the state government for the significant improvement in service delivery in the education sector.

“I particularly commend the state for delivering on its promise to improve the basic school system by renovating and providing basic facilities in the schools including water and sanitation facilities.

“We are also happy that Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board has continued to use the tools developed by CODE to strengthen citizens participation in planning and implementation of UBE projects,” he said.