Sanwo-Olu commits to accountability in $500m HOPE-GOV programme

‎Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has pledged his administration’s commitment to accountability in the implementation of $500 million Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity (HOPE) and Governance Programme in Lagos.

Sanwo-Olu, at a public sensitisation and presentation of Lagos State’s significant strides in the ongoing implementation of the HOPE programme activities in Governance, Primary Health and Basic Education held at the Lagos House Marina, said his government from inception emphasised transparency and efficient management of investments for citizen benefits.

The initiative is a $500 million facility supported by the World Bank, the Federal Government being implemented across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to address bottlenecks in service delivery, particularly in the health, education and governance sectors.

The governor said he was satisfied with the progress being made of the programe. According to him, the state has adopted the HOPE framework to strengthen its capital management systems, while shifting from input-based spending to outcome-driven performance.

“So for us in Lagos, this programme is about people, it’s about our city, about ensuring that the child has access to the right learning materials and the mother can receive quality care at our primary health institution without heavy financial burden.

“And to ensure that public resources are managed in a way that every Lagosian can see, they can understand, and they can go on to trust.

“Today’s event is therefore not only about implementation, policies, and programmes, it is about showcasing practical results, giving public awareness, and encouraging every citizen to be resilient, to take full advantage of this opportunity.

“So this initiative is an advantage to all our children and their families. Because of the growth of employment, the most important objective is to make sure that government works better, government plans better, government spends better and government can deliver better outcomes for all its policies and for its people.

“Under this framework, literacy has made a remarkable impact. We have sustained economic performance consistently above 80 percent in our year-on-year success rate.”

On governance, the governor noted, “Citizen-friendly project publications strengthens our medium-term expenditure framework and it helps us expand our digital platforms including the legacy project model and other focused financial management which enables our citizens to track government spending and predict what we are doing in real-time.

“We also have an advanced workforce at the local government level through the domestication and adoption of the national type of accounts and the project facilitation workforce at 20 local government levels and we have supported it by continuous training and the provision of tools to ensure that we are sustainable at a high level of finance.”

On his part, Akin Onimole, a World Bank specialist, said, as a procurement specialist in the World Bank, his focus often lies in the mechanism of development systems, the transparency and efficiency with which resources are converted into results.

‘’However, what we are celebrating today goes beyond mere processes; we are celebrating the tangible impact of reform on the lives of the people of Lagos. The HOPE programme was designed to tackle the systemic bottlenecks that often hinder service delivery in the education and the health sectors. From a procurement and systems perspective, Lagos State has demonstrated an exemplary commitment to the programme’s core mandate.’’

Also speaking, Ope George, the state Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, said the core objectives of the HOPE project was to strengthen financial and human resource management and improve service delivery in health, education, and in governance.

George added: “So it’s a $500 million national initiative using the programme for result instruments where funds are dispersed often to achieve this possible linked results.

“And it serves for us as a vital system for us to drive public financial management reforms, transparency and data-driven governance.

“We’ve ensured that the prudent allocation of public resources have been provided to enable the framework to support our broader human capital objectives.”