Among other Nigerian-based information technology companies, BudgIT has taken the lead with its civic technology platforms they dubbed Govspend that serves as a check and balance scheme to monitor how the Nigerian government manages its public finances in real-time — since Nigeria’s economy is corrupt by default.
It is a no-brainer that the system governing the Nigerian government is plagued with high-end corruption that has existed for years since Nigeria gained its independence. When it comes to the management of funds, revenues, and all sorts of financing, the Nigerian government tends to hide certain information from its citizens to conceal fraud and inappropriate expenditure of public money.
BudgIT’s Govspend.ng portal is built to exposed in-depth government’s Open Treasury Portal — with simplified data, Nigerians will have an upper hand to visualize how the federal government mishandles public finances via Govspend.
Remember, government officials in Nigeria have reportedly embezzled series of funds without demanding accountability. While perpetrators have corrupted the system overtime since there are no visible means to monitor government allocation of public funds.
It’s worth noting that other members of the media, Nigerian citizens, as well as Civil Society Organisations will have access to probe the government whenever they are caught mishandling public finances via BudgIT’s newly developed Govspend.
Per the 2021 Corruption Perception Index, CPI, Nigeria is ranked amongst the most corrupted countries despite the Open Treasury Portal initiative the current president Buhari’s administration introduced to promote accountability and transparency with public funds.
Buhari administration assigned the Open Treasury Portal to give the entire Nigerians a gateway to access how government expenditures are accounted for, while Govspend simplifies this data in a readable format for Nigerians to comprehend her government mishandles financial records.
Overtime, Nigerian governmental expenditure has reportedly issued series of payments to multiple personal accounts that are not enlisted as governmental beneficiaries, as well as issuing payments from public funds without appropriate description.
BudgIT’s newly developed Govspend is expected to rectify anomalies with this financial information derived from several MDA parastatal. Just as Govspend launches today, “Citizens can access information on companies that have been awarded public contracts and amounts paid by MDAs to such companies.”
Govspend’s information can serve as a tool for legal practitioners to evidently scrutinize the Nigerian government’s illegal expenditure on public funds. Nigerian citizens can also leverage scrutiny with this financial information that is expected to position corruption in the country at a minimal level.
