Hold Government Accountable On All Electoral Promises — Fayemi Tells Civil Groups, Media.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Kayode Fayemi has challenged the organized civil groups in the country to hold government at all levels accountable on their electoral promises.

The minister said it is the primary duty of any government to give good governance to its citizens , therefore, the Civil Society Organizations(CSOs) must wake up to put leadership on their toe for even development.

Fayemi, who was speaking at the Sixth Biennial People’s Forum of the West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF), in Abuja, maintained that the media and the civil society groups must take their role as watchdog and voice of the voiceless as serious.

He noted categorically that democracy in the West African sub-region had come to stay, so, WACSOF as an umbrella body of the civil groups in the sub-region, recognized by ECOWAS, should insist on member states to give good governance to their citizens.

According to him, “The issue of ECOWAS, how do we ensure that this is driven by the primary concern of the ordinary citizens of West Africa? Are we still citizens or subjects of the West Africa?
“How do we ensure that the citizens have rights and the leaders that were elected take those rights passionately? What are the roles of the civil society leadership on insisting on these things add values?”

In his remarks, the Acting General Secretary of WACSOF, Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani promised that they would work towards oneness in the sub-region, calling on the civil groups to cooperate with the government in their countries to address problem of insecurity.

“WACSOF endeavours to facilitate the actualization of ECOWAS vision, where citizens will enjoy the benefits of a borderless, peaceful, prosperous and cohesive region, built on governance and they can better harness and access its enormous resources through the creation of opportunities for sustainable development and environmental preservation.

“The commission can only actualize its dream of free movement when we have realized a region where everyone can access unconstrained movement.

“Given the volatile nature of the region and as it continues to receive threats of insecurity from Boko Haram insurgency and other similar conflict in the region, WACSOF has aligned its programmes in tandem with the Political affairs, peace and security commission, particularly the Early Earning Directorate of the ECOWAS Commission,” he said.