The Ondo State House of Assembly has announced plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PROMAD Infotech Foundation to strengthen citizen oversight of public projects in the state.
Speaker of the House, Olamide Oladiji, represented by his deputy, Ololade Gbegudu, made this known in Akure at the closeout ceremony for 18 participants of PROMAD’s Social Accountability Fellowship.
Oladiji said discussions were underway to increase the number of fellows from 18 to 26, ensuring representation from all constituencies. Describing the initiative as a first-of-its-kind in the state, he urged participants to remain committed to improving governance.
According to him, the proposed MoU will enable closer collaboration between the Assembly and PROMAD, allowing citizens to track, monitor, and report government projects in their communities directly to lawmakers for swift intervention.
PROMAD began implementing the Strengthening Participation, Accountability and Transparency in States (SPATS) project in June with support from the ALDA—European Association for Local Democracy, under the WYDE Civic Engagement Project.
The programme is run in partnership with the European Partnership for Democracy, Elbarlament, People in Need, and funded by the European Union.
Through SPATS, PROMAD has engaged the Assembly and other agencies to promote participatory governance. Once signed, the MoU is expected to expand the foundation’s FollowTheProjects initiative, which is developing a real-time dashboard for monitoring public projects and improving access to information for Nigerians.