Strengthen Transparency & Accountability
Because what’s not seen often gets stolen—or forgotten. In many Nigerian communities, the promise of public service ends at the announcement. Budgets are read, not implemented.
Roads are commissioned, not completed. Citizens hear numbers but don’t see outcomes. At CISD, we believe transparency is not just about publishing data—it’s about making that data speak to people’s lived experiences, and equipping them to respond.
Accountability isn’t a checklist; it’s a culture. And we’re working to build it from the ground up—community by community, one demand at a time.
✦ Approach
Our Approach⚡
We understand that mistrust in governance is not irrational—it’s often earned. But we also believe that trust can be rebuilt when governments show up with openness, and when citizens are empowered with the tools to ask the right questions and expect real answers.
Our work combines civic tech, behavioral design, and storytelling to move transparency from portals into people’s hands. We work at the intersection of budgets and broken boreholes, of data dashboards and health centers without staff. That’s where accountability becomes real.
+ Civic Tech
+ Behavioral Design
+ Storytelling
+ Transparency
✦ Ongoing
Ongoing Initiatives #TrackTheFundsOpen Budgeting IndexLG Scorecards
A people-powered campaign that demystifies education and health budgets and trains citizens to follow the money—from national allocations to LGA health centers.
We don’t just track; we act—with policy asks, community audits, and budget dialogues that bring stakeholders face to face.
We’re developing Nigeria’s first subnational index focused on transparency and usability of budgets at state and LGA levels.
It doesn’t just rate PDFs uploaded to government websites—it measures whether citizens can find, understand, and use budget data to demand service delivery.
Too often, local governments are invisible in the transparency discourse. Our scorecards offer communities simplified tools to evaluate how well LGAs manage funds, deliver services, and respond to local priorities.
Each scorecard is co-created with residents and validated by data.
Selected Publications & Knowledge Work
“Track the Funds: Civic Tools for Budget Accountability”“Open BudgetingFramework (Beta)”"Local Government Scorecard Report" (2024 Edition)Transparency Dashboard (Coming Soon)
- “Track the Funds: Civic Tools for Budget Accountability” A toolkit for community monitors and citizen journalists.
- Open Budgeting Framework (Beta) Our evolving framework for rating transparency across state and local budgets.
- Local Government Scorecard Report (2024 Edition) Insights from community scorecard pilots in five LGAs across three states.
- Transparency Dashboard (Coming Soon) Interactive online dashboard to visualize budget transparency and citizen responsiveness by state and LGA.
Join the Movement for Accountable Governance
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Contact Us
Contact Our Strength Transpiracy & Accountabilty Team
