‘Why bad governance persists in Nigeria’

Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD) has blamed corruption, lack of transparency and poor oversight function on the part of the legislature for the persistence of bad governance in Nigeria. The centre also said lack of good governance and effective leadership have hampered the country’s progressive growth thereby leaving it to lag behind […]

Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD) has blamed corruption, lack of transparency and poor oversight function on the part of the legislature for the persistence of bad governance in Nigeria.

The centre also said lack of good governance and effective leadership have hampered the country’s progressive growth thereby leaving it to lag behind its peers.

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The Executive Director of SCDDD, Ambassador Sani Bala, stated this in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the Leadership Effectiveness and Accountability Dialogue (LEAD) organised by the organisation in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation.

Bala said while there was lack of transparency on budgetary allocation and implementation on the part of the executive, the legislature both at the state and federal levels had failed to effectively scrutinise the projects in order to hold the executive accountable.

He said governments, its agencies and the citizens must continuously work in partnership for the promotion of transparent and accountable governance.

According to him, the LEAD project was part of the SCDDD’s contributions to the nation’s efforts towards establishing the culture of peaceful, transparent, accountable and open governance in Nigeria.

Through the two-year project, Bala said the centre had held interactive sessions with critical stakeholders across Kaduna, Kano, Imo, Rivers and Ogun States on how to promote peaceful and non-violent elections and beyond.

In his address, the SCDDD Board Chairman, Malam Abidu Yazid, explained that the centre was poised to continually call the attention of the political leaders to critical issues in Nigeria as well as finding solutions.

Yazid challenged the leaders at all levels to perform their tasks effectively in order to entrench the culture of good governance and effective leadership in Nigeria.