The League of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Kano State has withdrawn from the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Non-State Actors’ election scheduled for Thursday, August 6, 2026, alleging that the process violates the partnership’s governance standards and lacks credibility.
In a statement endorsed by 22 civil society organisations, the coalition said it would not recognise the outcome of the election, arguing that the process had been compromised by alleged manipulation, conflicts of interest and breaches of the OGP’s operational guidelines.
The group called on the National OGP Secretariat, development partners and other stakeholders to disregard the election until its concerns are independently investigated.
According to the statement, the League alleged that the election process was designed to undermine the independence of civil society and weaken the principles of transparency, accountability and multi-stakeholder collaboration promoted by the OGP.
Among the issues raised were claims of conflict of interest involving one of the organisations cleared to contest, allegations that the electoral committee lacked independence, and concerns that some outgoing officials were allowed to seek another term despite what the League described as existing term-limit provisions.
The coalition also questioned the eligibility of some participating organisations, alleging that independent checks on the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) database indicated that some organisations were either not registered or had inactive status due to failure to file statutory annual returns.
It further alleged that the electoral committee did not publicly disclose the criteria used to screen candidates or provide evidence that organisations were assessed for statutory compliance, including tax clearance and anti-money laundering requirements.
The League warned that the alleged irregularities could affect Kano State’s transparency agenda, the credibility of the National OGP Secretariat and the confidence of international development partners supporting open government initiatives.
It therefore called on the Kano State Government, the Attorney-General of the state, the National OGP Secretariat and other stakeholders to institute an independent, transparent and impartial review of the election process.
The coalition demanded the immediate suspension of the election, the reconstitution of an independent electoral committee, a fresh screening of all candidates based on publicly available criteria, and a review of organisations with alleged conflicts of interest.
It maintained that it would continue to dissociate itself from the election and any outcome arising from it until the concerns it raised are addressed.
The statement was endorsed by representatives of 22 civil society organisations, including Wuro Development Concerns, the Centre for Human Rights and Social Advancement, the African Centre for Innovative Research and Development, Campaign for Democracy, Joint Action Front and several other advocacy groups across Kano State.
