BudgIT Foundation and Connected Development (CODE), two prominent civic-tech non-governmental organizations spearheading the advocacy for openness, transparency and accountability in public finance in Africa, have launched the COVID-19 Transparency and Accountability Project (CTAP), an initiative that seeks to promote accountability and transparency through the tracking of COVID-19 intervention funds across 7 African countries. Both organizations will be leveraging their Tracka and Follow The Money platforms, as well as international chapters in other six focus African countries to activate a Pan-African tracking system for all COVID-19 funds received and donated to these countries.

“Retrospectively, our experience with tracking COVID19 funds has shown a deeply rooted systemic profiteering culture, especially in an environment that lacks accountability and civic engagement.” said Oluseun Onigbinde, BudgIT’s Director and Co-founder. “We also observed that there is an increasing mistrust from citizens on the delivery of palliative care in Nigeria, Kenya and Liberia due to representatives who abuse the process and the absence of comprehensive citizen data” he added.

CODE’s Founder and Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal, stated that “as nations of the world tackle the plague of coronavirus, with funding for African countries amassing in millions of dollars, it has become expedient to block financial leakages and ensure funds do not end up in personal pockets.”

“With CTAP, BudgIT and CODE will advocate for accountability, transparency, and open governance while strengthening civic awareness and ensuring that targeted governments use COVID-19 intervention funds effectively.  The project will address the threat of lack of accountability and the effects of COVID-19 on socio-economic development” Lawal added.

The response to pandemics should prioritize the participation of citizens, including needs assessments and provision of palliatives, procurement and delivery of items, thus, the primary aim of this project will be to drive citizens’ engagement as well as innovative capabilities of tech tools to develop an interactive portal on data relevant to COVID-19, and use these data to enable collaboration between citizen fact-checking programs and public institutions.  

Beyond the engagement sessions with focus non-profits and frontline leaders, the project will visualize and disseminate the contribution of stakeholders to the COVID-19 Relief Fund and other related programs. More importantly, requests of citizens in vulnerable areas will be itemized while both organizations’ sms-to-web platform will be leveraged to deliver relevant data to the government and other stakeholders based on citizens’ requests. The project will also curate stories of COVID-19 case management, palliative measures and its impact on the citizens. 

BudgIT and CODE are committed to working with relevant partners to understand the current transparency and accountability frameworks in focus countries; and devise strategies that combine citizen tracking and advocacy for reforms. Both organizations will promote collaboration and learning among local partners so they can be more effective and share lessons about accessing data, mobilizing citizens, and engaging governments. 

Our plan is to strengthen existing tools and build new ones where necessary. These tools must match citizens’ needs in the current emergency response and use this platform as a means to drive accountability on the importance of optimising public resources in an emergency situation. This project will be supported by the Global Integrity who will design a learning framework that allows for rapid scale while initial funding is provided by Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and Skoll Foundation.

Following the discovery of government storehouses for COVID19 palliatives and the looting spree of these food and material resources across the country, leading social accountability initiative, Follow The Money, has called for the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCCC) to investigate Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) responsible for the acquisition and distribution of COVID-19 palliative relief materials.

It should be recalled that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic early this year, the Follow The Money team across the 36 States has been tracking intervention funds and materials disbursed to State Governments to cushion the impact of the pandemic. A total of 57 Freedom of Information letters were received by 27 State Government agencies, requesting details of COVID19 funds and the distribution of palliatives— only 6 States responded, assuring that palliatives were distributed accordingly, even though they refused to provide details of distribution and evidence of the same.

According to Follow The Money Founder, Hamzat Lawal, the discovery of palliatives hideouts further indicates a systemic failure in governance and a distrust in leadership. There is no reason why the distribution of these items should have been delayed—knowing that the coronavirus pandemic worsened the country’s economic situation and increased poverty level. This discovery further exposes the rot and persistent corruption in the Nigerian system.

The Nigerian government continues to thwart the possibility of gaining the trust of its citizens, especially with its opacity and poor accountability, which has now materialised in a mob action and heavy looting of COVID19 palliatives.

There is an urgent need for the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 to prioritise addressing the lapses identified—from operational mistakes to gross mismanagement of logistics, leading to the mob action of palliatives looting. The EFCC and the ICPC must thoroughly investigate procurement fraud and mishandling of COVID19 related funding and resources and all culprits must be indicted. The National Assembly must also hold public hearings on the Palliatives looting and citizens properly briefed on outcomes. Public officials must be held accountable for the lapses in efficiency- this is the beginning of rethinking governance in Nigeria. Citizens deserve better.

For Media Enquiries:

Kevwe Oghide; Communications Director kevwe@connecteddevelopment.org

Consultancy: Youth Guide to Advocating for Gender Justice

Background:

Despite the Nigerian Government’s response/effort to improve its institutional and policy framework which have not yielded the desired result. The situation of the country’s GBV has even worsened with the Coronavirus pandemic which has led to more increase in the rate of gender based violence across Nigeria. More cases of rape, sexual violence, and abuse of girls and women’s rights have been recorded during this Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown in Nigeria. The Need to advocate for appropriate measures are put in place to  ensure no one is victimised and gender inequality is brought to fore in every discussion, planning and national or state strategy implementations. It is important for stakeholders which include development partners, local authorities, nonprofit as well as civil society organisations to work together to raise awareness and provide platforms for citizens engagement, advocacies and demand for gender justice in Nigeria. 

Connected Development (CODE) and YouthHubAfrica with support from ChristianAid will carry out a series of activities in Kaduna and Plateau State that include capacity building of gender justice youth advocates to ensure that the VAPP Act, Child Rights Act and other policies protecting the rights of women in the state are implemented and given adequate advocacy campaign for people to become informed. Doing this will not only reduce the incidences of violence against women and girls but will also ensure that adequate sanctions are meted on the perpetrators of these crimes. Forming this coalition of youth advocates on gender justice becomes necessary because of the incidences of GBV/VAWG/HP that are higher in the north with at least 3 of 10 girls experiencing one or more forms of GBV by the age of 15(NDHS 2013).

Scope of work: (Description of services, activities, or outputs)

Key deliverable:

1. Assist with preparation, management, and updating as required of the training curriculum and Agenda 
2. Develop the youth guide to advocating for Gender Justice

Duration and working schedule: 5 Days

Location: Nigeria

Duration: 18th November to 22nd November, 2020

Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format, and deadline:

Expected travel: None

Required expertise, qualifications, and competencies, including language requirements:

• At least 5 years of relevant experience as a GBV expert
• Previous engagements, volunteer, or work experience with an organisation that supports the gender equality  movement.
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
• Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view during the development of the guide to advocating for gender justice.
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of The CA Gender justice and Youth Engagement Strategy.
• Excellent communication abilities (oral, written and the ability to understand and be understood, diplomatic skills, drafting skills)
• Fluency in English 
• Strong attention to detail  
• Organizational, task management and strong analytical skills
• Ability to work under pressure

Application Deadline:  16/11/2020 at 12:00 AM

CLICK TO APPLY

The under-signed Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria have expressed disappointment that the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, failed to acknowledge the attacks and killings of unarmed peaceful protesters at the Lekki toll gate, Lagos, during his National Speech two days ago.

The President showed neither empathy or remorse, after alleged members of the Nigerian Army were reported to have opened fire on unassuming citizens during the protest. Not only is this worrisome but a mockery of democratic practices. 

Over the last two weeks, scores have died as thousands of protesters hit the streets all across Nigeria to demand an end to the assaults and unjust killings of the youths by the rogue Police Unit-Special Anti-Robbery Squad— but peaceful demonstrations against police brutality were cracked down on with aggressive response and shootings unleashed by the same security officials accused of heavy-handedness.

Peaceful protests across cities in Nigeria have been met with more assaults by security operatives. More horrifying is the brazen killing of dozens of innocent unarmed youths by alleged staff of the Nigerian Army. The CSO coalition strongly condemns these undemocratic, heinous and barbaric acts against humanity. It is quite unfortunate that the President has not displayed the political will and courage to remedy these problems.

The #EndSARS social movement is demanding justice for the victims of police brutality, rape, torture and extrajudicial killings by SARS-people are fighting for the right to lives, yet peaceful protests were disrupted by police violence, mass arrests, targeted shooting and the criminalisation of the protests itself. We demand that perpetrators of the police/SARS brutality and extrajudicial killings face the wrath of the law and are held accountable, especially leading up to those peaceful protesters who were either shot or killed during this recent protest.

This coalition calls on the International Criminal court (ICC) to promptly investigate and prosecute public officials (political, military and police leadership) found to have sponsored the violence against the peaceful #EndSARS Protesters which fall within the “Crimes Against Humanity” pursuant to the Rome Statute.

Without further delay, President Buhari must call for an inquiry and order the attorney general to sack/ prosecute those officers who are responsible for the killings or set up/institute a committee to investigate. The National Assembly must also order the investigation of these atrocious killings perpetrated by state actors against her citizens in lieu of the #EndSARS Protest.

Security is one of the prevalent challenges confronting the nation’s growth despite having more than 370,000 police officers in Nigeria and a police-to-citizen ratio of 1 to 400, which more than meets the United Nation’s recommended figure, the nation’s security challenges continue to worsen. Although President Buhari’s assented to a new Police Bill in September 2020, replacing the Police Act of 1943, this indicates how the Nigerian citizenry have been poorly-served. Still, the Bill contained no details of the timeline for reforming units such as SARS.

The embodiment of the Security force must rethink the lame strategy of overburdening security agencies and vigilante groups and invest in adequate training and capacity building. This will reduce overhead and operational costs, efficiently improve the security expenditure and expose the inherent corruption in the system.  The apparent lack of transparency and opaque budget and procurement practices in the management and utilization of security funds in Nigeria has contributed to its operational shortcomings and frequent misconduct.

We are aggrieved by all that has happened recently in Nigeria and stand in solidarity with our fellow Nigerians. We commend the resilience of citizens who took to the streets to protest and decry alarming police brutality, assaults and wanton killing SARS. At this time, as the nation heals, we urge citizens to please be calm, observe the curfew imposed by the government and be safe. We will continue to demand justice and will not rest until perpetrators face the wrath of the law.

Signed:

Connected Development (CODE)

TechHerNG

The Interactive Initiative for Social Impact (Dataphyte)

Accountability Lab Nigeria

SPACES FOR CHANGE

In the wake of the #EndSARS protest where millions of young Nigerians across the globe have unanimously called for the dissolution of the rogue Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian Police Force, Connected Development (CODE), hereby demands that the Nigerian Government awakes to its fundamental obligation of securing the lives and property of its citizenry.

Nigerians have long battled the menace of dire brazen security challenges—ranging from Boko Haram insurgency to Farmer-Herders clash, spate of sexual and gender-based violence and the menace of the rogue police unit. Actions to combat these security conditions have been inconsequential compared to the magnitude of attacks and chaos in their wake. With corruption entrenched in the sector, sustaining an effective and efficient security policy continues to be a far-cry.  

The challenges threatening the sovereignty of the country are enormous; now is not the time for President Muhammadu Buhari to be verbose. Youths are being hunted and killed unjustly; families are displaced; livelihoods are destroyed, human rights are violated    Nigerians deserve stability, security and an improved quality of life.

It is no news that the security sector is highly politicised and has since become a tool of government coercion —with journalists and civil society members being unlawfully detained. The constitutional rights of the Nigerian citizen have consistently been infringed, disrespected and people now live in fear—depicting a total mockery of our democracy.

The Nigerian leadership must seize this opportunity to walk the talk and drive a much-needed security sector reform. It is not enough to merely dissolve the unit of the Nigerian Police; CODE demands that perpetrators of the police/SARS brutality and extrajudicial killings face the wrath of the law and are held accountable, especially leading up to those peaceful protesters who were either shot or killed during this recent protest. There must also be a thorough investigation into all alleged SARS-induced disappearances & killings.

The embodiment of the Security force must rethink the lame strategy of overburdening security agencies and vigilante groups and invest in adequate training and capacity building. This will reduce overhead and operational costs, efficiently improve the security expenditure and expose the inherent corruption in the system.  The apparent lack of transparency and opaque budget and procurement practices in the management and utilization of security funds in Nigeria has contributed to its operational shortcomings and frequent misconduct.

It is quite unfortunate that the President has not displayed the political will and courage to remedy these problems. He should seize this opportunity to win back citizens’ trust.

We commend the thousands of Nigerian Youth that took to the streets over the weekend to protest and decry alarming police brutality, assaults and wanton killing of young unassuming Nigerians by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. This shows that when advocacy is intentional and our voice is unified, citizens have the ability to spur the change we need to see. Nigerians should not be silent in the face of injustice but must continue to speak against it.

For Media Enquiries:

Kevwe Oghide

Communications Director,  kevwe@connecteddevelopment.org

Learn more about Connected Development on www.connecteddevelopment.org

Twitter|Facebook | Instagram:  connected_dev

The best laws – with the most altruistic intentions – can often be jeopardized and misanthropic in application…

The Federal Government of Nigeria has disclosed that it “spent N30,540,563,571.09, representing 84% of the N36.3 billon public funds and donations received to respond to COVID-19 between 1st April, 2020 and 31st July, 2020, leaving the balance of N5.9 billion.”

The Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Anthony Ayine stated this in response to the Freedom of Information request dated 10 August, 2020 and sent to him by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Connected Development (CODE).

In the letter of response dated 4^th September 2020, and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare and CODE Chief Executive Hamzat B. Lawal, the organizations said: “We also note among others that the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 spent N22 billion; and 36 states received N7 billion to support their COVID-19 initiatives.”

The groups said: “We also note that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) spent N877 million for deployment of assets in support of COVID-19 operations; while the Nigeria Police spent N500 million on personal protective equipment. N17,865.09 was paid as bank charges.”

The response by the groups, read in part: “However, we also note that the documents sent to us do not contain other significant details as indicated in our FoI request dated 10 August, 2020, including details and breakdown of the number of Nigerians who directly or indirectly have benefited from the spending.”

“It is refreshing to note that 115 ordinary Nigerians donated between N1 and N100 to support the authorities’ efforts to fight COVID-19, despite the fact that it is the country’s poorest and most disadvantaged sectors of the population that continue to bear the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“This is a huge lesson for public officials and politicians about the idea of public service to one’s country. It also sends a powerful message about the need for politicians to see public service as an opportunity to serve and give something back to the country, and not mismanage, steal or divert the people’s commonwealth for personal benefits.”

“We welcome your demonstrated commitment to transparency and accountability, and hope other public officials and institutions would emulate and learn from the good example you have shown by honouring and respecting FoI as a matter of routine and practice.”

“We would therefore be grateful to receive more specific details and additional information on the spending of N34.4bn between April and July, and details on plans to spend the balance of the balance of N5.9 billion in the COVID-19 Eradication Support Accounts.”

“Of the N36.3bn public funds and donations, N1.4bn came from Nigerians and companies through accounts at the First Bank; Access Bank; GTB, Zenith, and UBA, while N536m donations were made through the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN]. The N536 donations comprise of N89m and N279m from the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively.”

“In addition, China General Chambers of Commerce in Nigeria donated N48m; the Petroleum Equalization Management Board gave N50m while the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board donated N70m.”

“We would be grateful if the requested details and additional information are provided to us within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP and CODE shall take all appropriate legal actions under the Freedom of Information Act and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to compel you to comply with our request.”

“We are writing to acknowledge receipt of the undated letter from the Accountant General of the Federation, but received 2^nd September, 2020, on the above subject-matter in which the Federal Government provided some information on inflows and outflows of COVID-19 funds, drawn from COVID-19 Eradication Support Accounts.  We appreciate your co-operation in this regard.”

Specifically, the groups are asking Mr Ayine to provide to them with the following:

1. Details and breakdowns of where the N34.4bn public funds from the Federal Government came from, and whether or not the money was duly appropriated by the National Assembly;
2. Details of specific projects and activities on which the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has spent the N22.16bn, which represents 72% of the money spent, including how the spending has directly or indirectly benefited Nigerians, as well as details of any such beneficiaries;
3. Details and breakdowns of the N7bn given to 36 states, and the specific amount of money collected by each state. This money represents 23% of the total amount spent within 4 months;
4. Details and breakdowns of the N877m [2.9% of the money] spent by the Nigerian Air Force for deployment of assets in support of COVID-19 operations, as well as the nature of any such operations;
5. Details and breakdowns of the N500m [1.6% of the money] spent by the Nigeria Police on personal protective equipment;

“The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation should also take steps to approach and request from the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Police Force, and the 36 states any of the details highlighted above, if the information is not held by your Office, in line with the provisions of the FoI Act.”

“Under the FoI Act, other public institution or institutions that may be holding the requested information are obligated to provide the information.”

“Please accept the expression of our highest consideration. Thanking you in advance of your urgent attention to the matter.”

*Tasks Governor on assent before New Year

Leading Non-Governmental Organisation on social accountability in Africa, Connected Development (CODE), has commended the Taraba State House of Assembly for passing the State Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Bill before the stipulated deadline.

Chief Executive of CODE, Hamzat Lawal, responding to the news, stated that the Taraba House of Assembly has proved itself as the people’s parliament by rebuilding residents’ trust in government institutions to deliver improved public service delivery.

Recall CODE, had met with the Taraba policy makers in November, urging that they erase bottlenecks and accelerate the second reading and other processes of the WASH bill, so that the residents of Taraba can have access to adequate safe water and basic sanitation; provided at an affordable cost in a sustainable manner in order to promote their health, dignity, economic well-being and improved livelihood. The legislators had vowed to present the bill to the governor before the new year, a promise kept.

Now that the bill has been passed, CODE, with the support of the USAID Effective Water Sanitation and Hygiene Services Program (E-WASH), is calling on Governor Darius Ishaka, who once won Water Man of the year, not to delay in ascending to the bill. The WASH Law positions Taraba State on the path to harnessing investments that will meet the WASH needs of the people.

According to CODE, there are thorny issues that the Law will address such as tackling the poor coordination in the implementation of projects, weak institutional capacity, and undefined or overlapping roles for various WASH agencies and stakeholders. It will also ensure the adoption of best practices on sanitation that meets the needs of Taraba residents.

CODE’s Lead on the USAID-EWASH project, Ijeoma Oforka, commended the State Community-Based Organisations, State Media Organizations, the WASH Customer Forums and other WASH groups in Taraba State for pressuring the government and holding them accountable for its promise to the people. This this bill passage shows the power of a collective voice to accelerate social change, she added.

Although, the Taraba WASH bill is yet to be ascended, the State has been making intentional efforts to provide residents with potable water and address sanitation issues. CODE urges Delta and Niger to tow this path to minimise the effect of WASH issues on public health. Delta and Niger States must fast-track actions on implementing policies that will ensure the consistent provision of clean and safe water and improve sanitation facilities for its residents, Oforka added.

CODE had initially begun a countdown on social media to the ascension of the bill, now it plans to countdown to Governor Darius’ assent. According to it, the long-term impact of a structured WASH system is the eradication of open defecation, the provision of WASH facilities in schools and strategic public spaces, the reduction of water-borne diseases, among other remarkable impacts.

2016 Annual Report: Big Stories from Rural Communities

In Nigerian rural communities, overtime, billions of dollars have been appropriated for the provision of health facilities , teaching aid, water and clean energy inputs, and have remained only spent “on paper”. 80% of such funds do not reach these communities. Many times they are not aware, and at times, they do not have the will/capacity to challenge and ask questions. It’s Game Over! There is a new movement that has been empowered and organised to reverse this trend. This is a compilation of what these “citizen monitors” were able to achieve in 2016.

Click here to read full report.

In October 2017, CODE commenced tracking government and international aid spending in Northern Nigeria, with particular focus on first-mile healthcare delivery and infrastructural provision for universal basic education.

We were on a mission to advance economic governance and promote transparency and accountability at State and Local levels in Nigeria. Our team empowered 84 communities in Yobe, Kano, Plateau, Borno, Kaduna and Adamawa states with information, data and knowledge to engage their elected government representatives on funds earmarked for capital projects in their communities. At the end of the project duration, we had tracked NGN 523,743,810 (USD 1,454,843.92) and impacted 1,276,780 people.

To ensure community ownership of the Follow The Money model, we organised community gatherings in Yobe, Adamawa, Borno, Plateau and Kano States, hosting community leaders, CBOs, religious leaders, SBMCs and PTA members, women leaders, youth leaders, other local groups, and local media organizations from an estimated 40 communities across the 5 states respectively. Over the course of the project cycle, we discovered a large vacuum in information sharing by the government, low compliance to the Freedom of Information Act, non-inclusion of community governance structures in project implementation, discrepancies across project sites and low citizens participation in governance processes.

Download full report here