The BudgIT Foundation, a leading African civic-tech organisation and public finance think tank, has announced activities to mark its 15th anniversary, highlighting its contributions to budget transparency, citizen participation and accountability in Nigeria.
The organisation said it would hold the grand finale of its anniversary activities in early September 2026, after 15 years of using technology and civic engagement to simplify public budgets, track government spending and empower citizens to demand greater transparency from public institutions.
Speaking in Abuja on Monday during a media briefing ahead of the anniversary celebration, BudgIT Nigeria Country Director, Mr Vahyala Kwaga, said the organisation had tracked more than 19,000 projects across various sectors, with the interventions benefiting millions of Nigerians.
Kwaga said BudgIT had also provided more than 22 million Nigerians with access to information on the national budget through its online and offline platforms.
He said the organisation’s work had contributed to strengthening Nigeria’s open-government ecosystem by supporting a coalition of about 150 local non-profit organisations working to advance the Open Government Partnership in the country.
According to him, BudgIT has also maintained engagements with government institutions on issues relating to budgets, procurement and public audits.
Advocacy and public finance reforms
Kwaga noted that through Civic Hive, BudgIT’s innovation unit, the organisation had incubated 12 civic-focused start-ups, including the Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative, PROMAD Nigeria and Citizen’s Gavel.
He said Citizen’s Gavel had expanded access to justice for more than 12,000 underserved Nigerians.
He added that BudgIT’s advocacy efforts had contributed to public finance reforms, including the removal of 270 allegedly padded budget projects valued at about N175 billion.
Beyond its direct programmes in Nigeria, Kwaga said BudgIT had supported civic organisations across Africa through more than $3 million in sub-grants provided on behalf of international development partners, including USAID, the Skoll Foundation and the Hilton Foundation.
Promoting fiscal transparency across states
Kwaga said BudgIT had also made significant contributions to improving fiscal transparency and accountability at the subnational level through its Subnational Reform and Accountability programme.
He said the organisation had published 10 editions of its State of States Fiscal Report, which assesses the fiscal viability of Nigeria’s 36 states and provides information for policymakers, citizens, development partners and credit rating agencies.
According to him, with support from the World Bank, BudgIT helped increase the number of Nigerian states publishing their budgets from just three in 2014 to all 36 states.
He said the development had created one of the country’s largest archives of subnational fiscal data.
Kwaga added that BudgIT introduced the States Fiscal Transparency League Table to encourage state governments to improve budget disclosure and transparency.
The organisation also initiated public dialogues through X Spaces with stakeholders across the 36 states to promote discussions around fiscal performance and accountability.
Tracking projects and improving service delivery
Kwaga said BudgIT had tracked 19,644 projects valued at approximately N8.5 trillion across 7,589 communities through its community monitoring initiatives.
He said the organisation had also facilitated more than 7,600 town hall meetings across the country, providing citizens with opportunities to engage government officials and demand accountability over public projects.
According to him, more than 11,800 monitored projects valued at about N3.5 trillion had been completed in areas including healthcare, education and infrastructure, benefiting more than 11.5 million Nigerians.
He said BudgIT’s budget transparency initiatives had provided accessible information on Nigeria’s national budget to more than 22 million people.
Healthcare accountability
The BudgIT country director also highlighted the organisation’s work in strengthening accountability in the primary healthcare sector.
He said BudgIT launched the Primary Healthcare Centre Accountability Tracker (PAT) portal in July 2023, through which it collected feedback from 20,677 citizens across 75 health facilities in five states.
The feedback, he said, included responses from 15,467 patients and 5,210 other concerned citizens.
Kwaga said the initiative generated 232 community engagements and 132 impact actions, contributing to improvements in service delivery at the 75 primary healthcare centres, which serve approximately 11,500 citizens.
He added that relevant institutions subsequently resolved 132 reported issues, while 170 critical issues were identified through the initiative.
He said BudgIT had further strengthened community participation in healthcare through ActivBudgIT by activating Ward Development Committees in 72 of the 75 targeted primary healthcare centres.
The organisation also supported 20 community-based organisations, 12 of which were led or owned by women.
BudgIT commends anti-corruption efforts
On the state of corruption and the government’s anti-corruption drive, Kwaga said BudgIT viewed some developments under the current administration positively.
He particularly commended the collaboration between anti-graft agencies and civil society organisations in bringing corruption-related issues to public attention.
“On your question of corruption perceptions for this administration, I would say that there have been some positives,” Kwaga said.
He said Nigeria’s removal from the relevant international negative designation was a development that deserved recognition, adding that the administration appeared committed to putting the country on a path towards greater prosperity.
However, he stressed that stronger adherence to the rule of law would be necessary to sustain such progress.
“It is clear that this administration is interested in putting Nigeria on a path towards prosperity. However, what needs to happen for that prosperity to be entrenched, and for it to gain ground and be sustainable, is for the rule of law to come into full effect,” he added.
The 15th anniversary celebration is expected to highlight BudgIT’s work in promoting budget transparency, civic participation and public accountability over the past 15 years.
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