Oritsegbubemi Omatseyin
Lagos — Nigeria’s Transparency and Integrity Index 2024 ranking released by the Bureau for Public Sector Reform, BPSR, and the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity rated 514 institutions across the three tiers of government and ranked the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, the overall best.
The Transparency and Index ranking carries out assessment annually on Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, of the Federal, State and Local Council governments on the bases of five variables, namely Fiscal Transparency, Open Procurement, Control of Corruption, Citizen Engagement and Human Resources.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief George Akume, said the ranking initiative was commendable and a welcome development towards entrenching accountability and good governance.
The Director-General of BPSR, Dasuki Arabi, stressed the importance of transparency in public affairs, citing the Federal Government’s Open Governance Partnership Initiative and the United Nation’s Convention on Anti-corruption.
In 2023, NOSDRA was ranked 1st amongst the stakeholders within the Oil Sector and overall 11th out of 511 MDAs assessed in all the categories. The Agency moved to the top of the ranking this year (2024) as the overall best in all the categories.
This is a spectacular feat achieved by the Agency’s consistent use of ICT in line with the Federal Government drive for improved transparency and accountability in the public sector.