Budget Access

DONOR: MAVC,UNDEF,OSIWA

    Numbers:

  • Offline Reach: Over 1,112,000
  • Twitter Followers: Over 50,000
  • Facebook Likes: Over 48,000
  • Media Mentions: 200+
  • Institutional Engagements: Over 15
  • Partnerships with CSOs: Over 30

THE PROJECT: Budget Access is an ongoing project where the creative use of technology is employed to generate and sustain public interest in hitherto boring and difficult-to-understand data. By making matters of public finance more comprehensible and figures more relatable to individuals across every demographic and literary span, we aim to reach the unreached in our quest to raise more civic-minded individuals, better able to discern, and take decisions pertaining to matters of national interest.

    OUTCOMES:

    “Even okada (commercial bike) drivers, both the intelligent and the unintelligent...everyone is making an input into the budget.” Reuben Abati, former Presidential aide on 4 January 2014, referring to citizens’ interest in the budget

    "@budgITng your work is one DEFINITE EVIDENCE of a better engaged citizenry in our fledgling Democracy. I am one of Ur biggest fans. Kudos!" Obiageli Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education

    “Donors interested in transparency need to pay greater attention to supporting such institutions, as well as supporting efforts from civil society on the demand side of good governance, such as yourbudgit.com, which educates citizens on how the national budget allocates resources.” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala former Finance Minister and former World Bank Managing Director in a Financial Times Op-ed

  • Over 1,112,000 Nigerian reached through newspapers, field visits and town hall meetings, as well as at least 80,000 followers on social media. It is now very likely to hear petty traders, and professionals alike talk about the budget from the standpoint of data, using our published examples to buttress their arguments.
  • In total we have published 34,000 tweets, curated and distributed over 25 publications, sent out over 500 budget-related infographics, processed more than 6,000 data requests, distributed over 70,000 copies of simplified budget documents to citizens across Nigeria and built a budget data repository.
  • We are the largest collector of State governments’ budget documents, which are mostly not publicly available.
  • Our strategy of creating demographic-tailored content from bulky budget documents has seen us utilise interactive applications, games, infographics, videos and cartoons to make public finance appealing. Our efforts have made the budget a discussion point across Nigeria today, driving public debate and scrutiny of budgets at State and federal levels of government.
  • Inspiring respect within government circles, we have also leveraged on our work in the public space to establish contact and partnerships with public institutions, especially those involved in budget preparation and resource allocation. This has ensured our advocacy reaches decision-makers, as we serve as a conduit to facilitate communication on matters of public spending between elected leaders and the people.
  • On March 2 2016, we met with the Honourable Minister of Budget and National Planning, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary and other notable staff members, as well as the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning. Also at this meeting was the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation and the Special Adviser to the President on National Planning.
  • Relying on prior analyses, BudgIT proffered various solutions, including advocating the need for a definite budget calendar, clear communication strategies and the realignment of aspects of the budget to ensure greater transparency and accountability.
  • We have also made presentations of the National Assembly on budget access and project tracking. With support from FEPAR, BudgIT held two trainings for the National Assembly Budget and Research Office. This is tied to our part in strengthening institutional capacities of public agencies.
  • In particular, beyond assisting the National Assembly’s Budget and Research Office via capacity-building initiatives, BudgIT is spearheading a campaign to make the National Assembly’s budget more open, using the hashtag #OpenNass. With the campaign, we have been able to get a definite commitment from the principal officers at the National Assembly - including the Senate President - to get the National Assembly publish a detailed breakdown of its budget.
  • We also recently compiled and submitted a list of frivolous expenditure embedded in Nigeria’s 2016 budget (as observed by the citizens and BudgIT staff) to the National Assembly for immediate action.