Accountability and Transparency: An Ideal Configuration for Good Governance

Accountability and transparency are as relevant for the one as for the other. Good governance is a system of government based on good leadership, respect for the rule of law and due process, the accountability of the political leadership to the electorate as well as transparency in the operations of government. Accountability as a component of good governance refers to the fact that those who occupy positions of leadership in the government must give account or subject themselves to the will and desire of the society and people they lead. Transparency has to do with the leadership carrying out government business in an open, easy to understand and explicit manner such that the rules made by government, the policies implemented by the government and the results of government activities are easy to verify by the ordinary citizens. Unfortunately, this is lacking in the public domain in Nigeria.