Mrs Anthonia Onga, Program Officer, Yiaga Africa stated this on Friday at a sensitisation programme for Ifo-Ewekoro Federal constituents of Ogun in Abeokuta.
According to Onga, citizens participation remains at the centre of democracy.
She emphasised that the organisation established what it called the People’s Assembly to promote public deliberations on the activities of representatives at the national assembly and their impact on the constituents.
Onga stressed the importance of citizens engaging their representatives, saying, “We are providing this opportunity and platform for the citizens of the Ifo-Ewekoro Federal Constituency.”
She said Yiaga Africa remained committed to promoting democracy, good governance, and civic engagement, and to supporting democratic governance at the federal constituency level.
“For us, it’s to bring together citizens at the constituency level, come together, discuss and deliberate on issues that matters to them and table it before the federal constituency for implementation so that they can get result.
“Most times, citizens don’t participate beyond voting in an election and participation goes beyond election,” she said.
According to the programme officer, the event was organised to enlighten constituents on how to hold their representatives accountable and to demand the implementation of projects within their communities that impact their lives.
She explained that the people’s assembly provides a platform for citizens to engage in governance and ensure that lawmakers prioritise their needs.
“What makes people’s assembly different is that it is a small group of people who come together to deliberate issues and decide through consensus on which issues should be treated first.
“They take the issue to the representative and follow up to make sure that particular issue raised is being implemented.
“Our engagement here today is to come and establish, show them the processes of holding meetings so that they will own it and follow up , the follow up is not ours, it is the people’s.
“Yiaga Africa, in the past two years has successfully established functional people’s assemblies in some Local Government Areas (LGAs) across 10 states which have yielded tangible outcomes,” she said.
In his submission at the event, Hon. Ibrahim Isiaka, representing Ifo/Ewekoro Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, appreciated Yiaga Africa for bringing the sensitisation programme to his constituency.
Isiaka, who was represented by a constituency member, Abiodun Adeleye, said the programme was aimed at educating various groups on their rights and the responsibilities of their representatives, both at the national and state assemblies.
“Ifo-Ewekoro federal constituency is being singled out because of the effectiveness of the representatives in the national assembly .
“The constituency will always embrace any form of change and the discussion here today will be an improvement to what has been done in time past.
“There are some changes they are trying to introduce, yes, we will take it and look at it; we will embrace it and inculcate it into the system of our federal constituency,” he said.
A participant, Mr. Wasiu Olalekan, who represented Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), said the programme provided an opportunity for their voices to be heard.
“There are so many opportunities created for us from the federal to the state and even local government level but at the end of the day, we’re neglected.
“We were also part of the custodians of democracy, so we have to be carried along. The gap between PWDs and the government must be bridged,” he said.(NAN)
