Mr. Onigbinde visits the High Authority
On 1st December 2017, Mr. Oluseun Onigbinde, co-founder and CEO of BudgIT, an organization that pioneered the application of new information and communication technologies to good governance issues in Nigeria, was received by the High Authority’s Secretary-General, Mr. Guillaume Valette-Valla, as part of a study visit in France. This visit was organized by the invitation program for personalities of the future from the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. It focused on transparency and control of public finances, prevention and fight against corruption, the use of public open data and statistics and the utilization of new technologies.
The presentation covered the missions of the High Authority, the control of asset declarations and the prevention of conflicts of interest. Special attention was given to the publication of declarations and the procedures of data collection, in particular via the online declaration application ADEL.
Indeed, Nigeria has experienced significant developments in these areas in recent years, notably thanks to the Code of Conduct Bureau, which is responsible for promoting the integrity of public officials in the performance of their duties and for collecting their asset declarations. Nevertheless, the present law does not provide for the publication of asset declarations. During the discussions, Mr. Onigbinde highlighted the fact that the lack of tools enabling citizens to monitor public expenditure and the variation of assets of public officials in relation to their income hinders the detection of potential infringements and hampers citizens’ trust in their institutions.