Civil society, media and government trained to independently review infrastructure data in Kaduna, Nigeria

By Tara Jeremiah Wyah

89 stakeholders from across government, the private sector, media, academia and civil society in Kaduna, Nigeria, took part in a 3-day training course in October 2024 by the CoST International Secretariat to deepen transparency, accountability and participation in the delivery of infrastructure projects in Kaduna.  

The unwavering commitment of the previous Senator, Uba Sani, to infrastructure transparency led to the landmark move of Kaduna becoming a CoST member in 2022; the first member of CoST in Nigeria. Kaduna has a population of over 10 million people with 23 Local Government Areas and 255 political wards.

Kaduna’s commitment to driving transparency, participation and accountability has been demonstrated through its well-functioning Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) made up of an equal number of civil society, private sector and government members. The MSG manages the coalition of CoST Kaduna, serving as a platform for both civil society members and private sector players to deeply understand the infrastructure process and challenges faced by government in delivering public infrastructure to the over 10 million residents in Kaduna State. As a result of becoming CoST members, private sector representatives on the Multi-Stakeholder Group chaired by the Executive Governor can now discuss and problem-solve key issues that affect their sector. 

“Membership to CoST has won Kaduna recognition for championing good governance…at the national level across the 36 states in Nigeria.” Mr Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman of the MSG and Commissioner for the Planning and Budget Commission, 

In his opening remarks at a meeting with the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG), Mr Ahmed noted that the government was aware of the public concerns around trust in the sector and was committed to doing everything possible to redeem public trust, through multi-stakeholder working.  

Stakeholders were exposed to practical hands-on learning of an infrastructure project to understand how to conduct an independent review process, including taking part in a field trip to learn how to engage with contractors on site using Independent Review protocols.  

81.8% of participants who took part in the training ranked the sessions as “very good” and that the training had led to an improved understanding.  

Kaduna has recently passed a commitment to implement the CoST standard for improved data publication in their latest Open Government Partnership action plan, building on the OGP framework. The Kaduna procurement portal is being aligned with the CoST Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standard (OC4IDS). Over 1300 projects are set to be published over the next few months as CoST Kaduna progresses with driving change. This will be on the newly aligned OC4IDS portal. To enhance transparency further the MSG has advocated for a Formal Disclosure Mandate being aligned with the CoST Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standard (OC4IDS) and has advocated for a Formal Disclosure Mandate.  

Additionally, as part of their Open Government partnership work and commitment for making infrastructure more open, accountable and impactful for citizens, Kaduna has also launched an “Eyes and Ears” project which leverages technology to track implementation of State infrastructure projects, including a database and citizens feedback app. as CoST progresses with driving change. This will be on the newly aligned OC4IDS portal.

Demonstrating the government’s commitment to CoST Kaduna and its aims, they have committed to allocating an annual budget for CoST Kaduna to commission an infrastructure data independent review process in the near future. Building on what was learned through the training, this will extend the knowledge and skills of the trained team as well as use help rebuild public trust in the sector and establish ways to innovatively use multi-stakeholder working to address critical sector needs and challenges.   

Kaduna has positioned itself as a change maker that will hopefully inspire other states to implement safeguards in infrastructure delivery using CoST’s approach, tools and standards. 

Tara Jeremiah Wyah is the CoST Manager for Kaduna State at the Planning and Budget Commission.
Tara supports the day-to-day running of the CoST Secretariat working with governments, civil society and Private Sector to advance sustainable reforms in the Infrastructure sector in the State.