The Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly (ODHA), Rt. Hon. Olamide Oladiji, has expressed the readiness of the legislative arm of government to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PROMAD Infotech Foundation to strengthen citizen oversight of public projects in the state.
Oladiji, represented by his deputy, Rt. Hon. Ololade Gbegudu, made the disclosure at the closeout ceremony of the Social Accountability Fellowship organised by PROMAD in Akure for 18 fellows drawn from across the state.
According to the Speaker, discussions are underway with PROMAD’s management to expand the fellowship from 18 to 26 participants to ensure that each state constituency is represented.
“This is a first-of-its-kind initiative, and the House has adopted it. I urge the fellows to remain steadfast and committed to securing a better future for our state,” Oladiji said.
He explained that the proposed MoU would formalise collaboration between the Assembly and PROMAD to enable citizens to track, monitor, and report government projects in their communities directly to lawmakers for timely intervention.
In June, PROMAD began implementing the Strengthening Participation, Accountability and Transparency in States (SPATS) project, supported by the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) under the WYDE Civic Engagement Project. The initiative is being implemented in partnership with the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), Elbarlament, People in Need, and funded by the European Union.
Through SPATS, PROMAD has engaged the Ondo State House of Assembly and other government agencies to promote participatory and accountable governance.
Once the MoU is signed, young people and other citizens in the state will be able to co-monitor public projects and share their findings with lawmakers, complementing PROMAD’s flagship social accountability initiative, FollowTheProjects.
The programme is also developing a real-time project monitoring dashboard to improve transparency and public access to information.