PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has launched the National Monitoring and Evaluation platform, named EYEMARK.
Buhari, launching the app today, urged Nigerians to utilise it in making constructive suggestions to Federal government’s projects.
The President launched the project monitoring website, www.eyemark.ng, with its accompanying mobile app shortly before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Council chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
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He noted that the app would enable proper monitoring and evaluation of government projects.
Saying the federal government could no longer depend on its handful of monitoring and evaluation teams to oversee the vast number of infrastructure projects spread nationwide, Buhari pointed out that tracking of progress reported by citizens would lessen corruption and project delays.
He added that given that his administration had invested in infrastructure projects more than any other before it, it was only fitting to create adequate avenues for close monitoring by citizens.
According to him, this would close the existing gaps and promote citizens’ participation in governance.
Buhari also blamed the spate of corruption on the poor implementation of infrastructure projects across the country.
With EYEMARK, the President said, “the status of projects, and the total amount appropriated and dispensed so far are now available in the public space.”
He urged ministries, departments and agencies to cooperate with the coordinating ministry, the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, to avail the required information to be captured on the platform.
Earlier in his address, the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, said EYEMARK would empower citizens and civil society organisations to monitor capital projects in real time to promote accountability.
Agba noted that the platform leveraged a large network of citizens who can monitor projects in their localities.
He cautioned, however, that relying on the public comes with the risk of misinformation.
He pointed out that EYEMARK had been equipped with spatial technology to track images and to ascertain their origins.
“If a user is in Kaduna, we can determine the authenticity of the reviews. And we can know if the image was uploaded from the location the user claimed it was sent from,” he explained.
Agba also revealed that the website and its accompanying app were developed by Nigerians of the average age of 24 years, with inputs from stakeholders and industry experts.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.
This application is very important to Nigeria and it can be use to track any project