The Connected Development (CODE) said through its ‘Follow The Money’ (FTM) initiative, it saved the Federal Government N477 million by blocking leakages in funded rural community projects.
The Chief Executive, CODE, Hamzat Lawal, during the launch of a report and the presentation of its the 2019 Annual Report, in Abuja said, it tracked N1.277 billion ($3.5m) budgeted for projects in 59 communities.
“Since 2012, CODE has tracked an estimate of $113.6m, in budget sums for projects, across 181 communities in over 25 Nigerian states, improving over four million rural lives,” Lawal said.
He said lack of transparency, poor social accountability, among others, are entrenched governance challenges in Nigeria.
“CODE is bridging the information gap between citizens and the government by providing information on government budgets, tackling financial leakages and bringing governance closer to the people at the grassroots.”
He said, “We further saved the Nigerian people and the government the sum of N477m by blocking financial leakages in funded rural community projects.
“Our work gained global recognition when Follow The Money emerged winner of the 2019 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Mobilizer Award and also won the Council of Europe’s Democracy Innovation Award as the initiative advancing the cause of democracy,” the CODE boss said.
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