The Nation Newspaper

Tag: BudgIT

  • N78.3m Website: BudgIT defends tweets

    N78.3m Website: BudgIT defends tweets

    Nigeria’s foremost civic technology organization, BudgIT, Tuesday denied any political interest in the controversy trailing the award of N78.3 million used to upgrade the website of former Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola.

    BudgIT, in a statement by its Team Lead/ Co Founder Oluseun Onigbinde, said that the organization only called for openness, accountability and transparency in the management of public funds.

    He said that the organization has come under threats over its tweets in the past few weeks over the amount awarded for the website.

    Onigbinde said that as a data-driven institution, it will continue to ask questions on projects carried out with tax payers’ money.

    The statement reads: “In the last week, a lot has been said about the work BudgIT does. Our motives have been questioned, our support from trusted partners queried, accusations made against our staff – and now we have received new information about threats. These threats directly reference our Tweets about information published on the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency website for the “Upgrade of www.tundefashola.com website post May 29, 2015 Handover.”

    “We are disheartened that in a democracy, threats are being made over the mere fact that a civic organisation highlighted public finance data to none other than the public.

    “We reiterate that the information was, and (at the timing of this statement), still is on the website, and therefore in the public domain, and therefore legally open to scrutiny by BudgIT. http://www.lagosppa.gov.ng/awarded-contracts/details-contracts-award-2014 .We have made no accusations, neither have we published any (secret) document or violated any government rules.

    “We are at a loss as to why these threats should be made, as our actions were motivated by nothing more than our role as an institution respected for data-driven advocacy for accountability, transparency and openness in the management of public funds in Nigeria.

    “We state once more that we have no political interest as we don’t take funds or seek untoward favours from government officials or politicians. Our relationship with government institutions has always been on intersecting civic engagement with institutional reform and this is mainly funded by international donor support.

    “We also want to state that we are not interested in any timing as regards the motives of this as we have only highlighted a public document published on May 13, 2015. We advise other Nigerians to interrogate the document and ask questions as responsible tax-paying citizens.”

  • Group partners UN to increase access to budget

    Group partners UN to increase access to budget

    Civic technology and transparency advocacy group, BudgIT Nigeria has partnered with the United Nations (UN) to increase access and ensure transparency in government budgets.

    The partnership will also assist the group to track projects in 24 communities in Nigeria located in six states across the Federation.

    BudgIT is already working with both Kaduna and Edo state governments to ensure transparency.

    The UN is facilitating the agreement under its Democracy Fund programme in other to enhance citizen participation in local governance by enabling community members grasp public finance data and capital projects captured within their areas of residence.

    BudgIT’s Lead Partner, Oluseun Onigbinde, in a statement said that the partnership was the culmination of prior advocacy work at grassroots level.

    “Since 2013 we have worked in over 300 communities, and note that for every 10 communities visited, only one community has constituents that have knowledge of the budget, or local projects provided for in their States; this partnership will expand our campaign to ensure that every citizen of Nigeria attains their rightful place as a partner in government, not as mere spectators.”

    Onigbinde explained that BudgIT’s initial focus was on the Federal budget, adding that Nigerians clamor for transparency in their States is important.

    According to him, this project will allow people track all projects in the budget provided for their neighborhoods, such as the construction of roads, hospitals or any relevant empowerment schemes.

    “Across the broad spectrum of our online and offline engagement, and with our peers in civil society, there is an increasing demand for accountability at the sub-national level, as this is where governance is immediately felt, or missed.

    “Work will be intensifying on projects relating to health, education, poverty alleviation schemes and gender issues,” he revealed.

    In his response, the Deputy Head of United Nations Democracy Fund, Mikiko Sawanishi, said that UNDEF supports projects that strengthen the voice of civil society, promote human rights, and encourage the participation of all groups in democratic processes.

    “We are thrilled to support the project ‘Creative Communication on Nigeria’s Budget’ implemented by BudgIT. The project will provide citizens of Nigeria with information on the formulated national budget as well as planned public projects, in order to increase transparency and accountability.

    “Using technology, the project will be able to reach a wide population through diverse approaches and truly provide a voice and platform to Nigerians.  We look forward to working with BudgIT and supporting this project to fruition,” she said.