#FollowKwaraMoney Projects of ENetSuD

1. Tracking of 171 constituency projects in 2017

In 2017, ENetSuD tracked 171 Federal Government constituency projects facilitated by Federal lawmakers from Kwara state (no other NGO in the whole Nigeria has tracked this number of constituency projects per year in Kwara state). We found that, though most of the projects were eventually executed after ENetSuD’s monitoring and pressure, in some cases, the majority of those projects were poorly executed in addition to inflation of contract sum. About 15% of the projects tracked by ENetSuD (worth ₦609,791,120) was not easy to verify in terms of quantity, distributions and impacts on citizens, as beneficiaries’ lists were not readily available (read more: https://bit.ly/2smioeN). Out of the 10 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that we tracked their projects in 2017, eight (8) of them eventually complied with the provisions of Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, even though the compliance came only after receiving pre-action notice as part of our preparation for litigation. This is a testimony to our capacity to compel public institutions to account for how taxpayers’ money is spent (read more in our 2017 Annual report: https://bit.ly/381GCtL).

2. ENetSuD is the only NGO tracking capital projects of Federal Government in Kwara

Having successfully tracked 171 constituency projects of 2017 in Kwara state that we initially used to test-run our ability, we have shown our expertise and commitment to #FollowKwaraMoney notwithstanding various challenges we are facing. We then graduated from tracking only constituency projects to tracking both capital and constituency projects in Kwara state. Presently, we are tracking more than 500 capital and constituency projects of 2018 in Kwara that worth over fifty (50) billion naira (see pages 42-64 of https://bit.ly/381GCtL). We drag MDA(s) that fail to respond to our FOI request(s) to a court of competent jurisdiction for judicial review and to seek mandamus to compel the MDA(s) to comply with our request. So far, we have dragged three (3) MDAs to court, including Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) (read: https://bit.ly/2Rdt8V1), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) (read: https://bit.ly/35Mvn73, also read https://bit.ly/372cuyk), and Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA) (read: https://bit.ly/2QNHpsB). We later had an out-of-court settlement with LNRBDA, while our litigations against UBEC and FMARD are still ongoing at the Federal High Court, Ilorin.

3. Tracking of Kwara State Government Projects

Notwithstanding the challenges we are having on access to information from Kwara State Government (KWSG) as a result of the incomplete domestication of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act in the state, we have started monitoring how the budget of KWSG is executed. Due to our impeccable image in project tracking and monitoring, we were invited by the Kwara State Government and the state COVID-19 committee to monitor the implementation of the palliative exercise. We invited 14 CSOs and NGOs and some individuals to participate in the monitoring process of the KWSG COVID-19 palliatives. Thus, all the palliative items (money and food) distributed by KWSG were monitored by CSOs, NGOs and individuals under our coordination (see details of the CSOs/NGOs and individuals https://bit.ly/2Zan0T1). Our monitoring activities prevented the diversion of money and food by politicians and community leaders, and ensured that the deserving beneficiaries got the items. In most places monitored, we have the beneficiaries list and records of the items and money shared. Summary of some of the LGAs monitored can be accessed here: (Ifelodun LGA: https://bit.ly/3cxQMFj; Ekiti LGA: https://bit.ly/3cxQONr; Moro LGA: https://bit.ly/2zEEAEj; Patigi LGA: https://bit.ly/3dRkmWB; Asa LGA: https://bit.ly/2WBd0k7).

4. Campaign for Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Kwara state

The successive administrations of Kwara state government (KWSG) spent 6.5 billion naira on Ilorin Water Reticulation project without the desired impact of solving the problem of water scarcity across Ilorin metropolis, the capital of Kwara state. ENetSuD conducted a survey of the availability of water and was able to find out the absence of water supply in over 90% of the surveyed locations where Government claimed the water was available (watch the survey video: https://bit.ly/3a8jlbJ). ENetSuD adopted various forms of advocacy to demand value-for-money on the project, including repeated radio programs, social media publicity, interface with KWSG, among others (read: https://bit.ly/2sio35o, also read: https://bit.ly/3a5YTIn). Due to the inability of the previous administrations of KWSG to provide water for the citizens after commissioning the project, ENetSuD continued the WASH advocacy with the new administration by writing the transition committee and continuing monitoring of the water situation across the city (read: https://bit.ly/2RbuakB). The result of this effort is that water supply has significantly improved in many communities within Ilorin metropolis after some constructive engagement with the present administration (read: https://bit.ly/3a4WrSp).

5. Media Enlightenment of the public on governance

We have been passing #FollowKwaraMoney messages on our Follow Your Mandate Television program in Kwara TV and Imojuto Owo Ara Ilu radio programs on Royal FM 95.1 and Sobi FM 101.9. We also stream our programs on our social media handles (Twitter and Facebook), though mostly on Facebook with a larger audience and followers. These messages have been sensitizing people on the need to be involved in the monitoring of the projects funded by their taxes and other public funds. We have also been strongly advocating that #KwaraMoneyMustWorkForKwarans, and not for few elites and cabals.