Former governor of Anambra, Peter Obi, has called for transparency and accountability in governance across all levels. Mr Obi expressed this notion at The Nigeria Symposium for Young and Emerging Leaders which took place today at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Themed ‘Open Governance: Improving Transparency and Accountability in Government’, the Symposium brings together leaders in politics, business, media, and more to discuss issues and challenges of open government and active citizenship.

While speaking, Peter Obi decried the cost of governance in Nigeria stating that Nigeria needs a broad, comprehensive approach to address issues of budget inflation and corruption among public servants.

“The present cost of governance in Nigeria is totally unacceptable”, Obi said. “Expenses of running the government in Nigeria is at the detriment of the citizens. Most Nigerians have no knowledge of the Chairman of their local government, so how do you expect to keep them accountable?”

Seun Onigbinde, Co-founder, BudgIT, affirmed that citizens need to demand answers from elected officials at all levels.

“Nigerians need to demand transparency all the time. The National Assembly spends 10 times the budget of other federal institutions in the country. The government serves the people, not the other way round. Nigeria is our collective responsibility, and as true citizens of this country, we need to find our voices,” Onigbinde said.

Speakers at the event include Donald Duke, former governor of Cross River; Deji Adeyanju, former PDP social media director; Demola Olarewaju, political strategist/analyst; and Japheth Omojuwa, founder and chief strategist, Alpha Reach.

Others are Dayo Isreal, youth advocate; Rinsola Abiola, youth advocate; Ayo Thompson, award-winning TV/Radio presenter; Seun Okinbaloye, Arit Okpo and political correspondent, Channels TV.

The third edition of the Nigeria Symposium for Young and Emerging Leaders was powered by The Future Project, in partnership with National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and Y!/YNaija.com.