One such organization is BudgIT, a Nigerian-born civic tech nonprofit that has made a name for itself by transforming complex public budgets into simple, accessible data for citizens.

At the forefront of BudgIT’s latest innovations is Kolawole Egbeyemi, the newly appointed chief innovation officer.

His work is driving the organization’s global shift toward artificial intelligence, open data tools, and decentralized transparency frameworks. We sat down with Kola to discuss how BudgIT is using technology to revolutionize budget transparency and why their upcoming AI platform, Bimi, could be a game-changer.

TE: BudgIT has long been known for simplifying budget data. What’s the next chapter in that story?

Egbeyemi:
BudgIT began with one mission: to make government budgets accessible to everyday Nigerians. We’ve built dashboards, visual reports, and state portals to support that goal. The next chapter is about personalization. It’s not just about access anymore. It’s about helping each citizen understand what public spending means to them, in their own context and language. That’s where Bimi, our new AI-powered assistant, comes in.

TE: Tell us more about Bimi. What exactly is it?

Egbeyemi:
Bimi stands for Budget Information Made Interactive. It’s a civic AI tool that allows people to chat with a system that can explain, search, and retrieve public budget data. Think of it like an intelligent civic assistant. You could ask, “How much was allocated to healthcare in Ogun State this year?” and Bimi will not only give you a number but also explain what that budget line means, how it compares to last year, and what the money is supposed to achieve.

TE: What technologies power Bimi?

Egbeyemi:
We’re using large language models that have been trained on Nigeria’s federal and state budget data, project monitoring records, and demographic information. Bimi has been tuned to understand civic questions, detect user intent, and respond in plain, everyday English. We’re also working on adding local languages so it can interact in Pidgin, Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo.

TE: Why is AI critical to transparency work now?

Egbeyemi:
The average citizen is not going to download a spreadsheet from a government website. That kind of civic engagement excludes millions of people. AI changes that. It enables us to deliver personalized insights quickly and through platforms people already use, such as WhatsApp. It brings governance information into daily life. That is the future. Citizens should be active participants, not just observers.

TE: Aside from Bimi, what else is BudgIT building in the innovation space?

Egbeyemi:
We’re piloting blockchain tools to track government spending and exploring Web3 solutions to build trust in how funds are allocated. We are also expanding our international partnerships, especially in the United States, to learn from civic innovation labs and scale our solutions across Africa. Our team supports over 130 grassroots organizations by providing them with tools, training, and data literacy resources. We are not just building tech. We are building a civic movement.

TE: You have a strong background in telecom and operations. How does that influence your work now?

Egbeyemi:
I’ve led infrastructure rollouts, managed large-scale service teams, and worked in highly regulated technical environments. That experience helps me think in systems. When designing tools for transparency and accountability, consider the scale, reliability, access, and human behaviour.

I apply the same level of planning and quality control to civic-tech work because, for many people, this information is essential to their survival and rights.

TE: What does success look like for you and BudgIT in the coming year?

Egbeyemi:
Success means impact. We want millions of people to use Bimi. We want state governments to embrace open data dashboards. We want civil society groups to tell better stories using data. If civic information becomes part of everyday conversation at home, in the marketplace, and on social media, then we are doing our job. The goal is simple. Help citizens stay informed and hold governments accountable.

With the launch of Bimi coming soon and a broader roadmap filled with digital transparency tools, BudgIT, under Kola Egbeyemi’s leadership, is positioning itself as a pioneer in civic innovation. In an era where information is power, turning complex public data into something that people can use might be the most impactful form of governance reform yet.

According to BudgIT, “Recall that in August 2023, we itemised ten plagues that the Tinubu administration should avoid in the 2024 bud­get and budget process to en­sure value for money, curb expenditure inefficiency and waste, enforce accountability, and put Nigeria on the path­way of prosperity, economic growth, and development.

“Unfortunately, having reviewed the proposed 2024 Appropriation Bill breakdown, we observed that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administra­tion has continued with some deleterious budget practices from previous regimes that have fostered corruption, un­derdevelopment, unemploy­ment, and multidimensional poverty.

“One significant observa­tion is the absence of crucial budget breakdowns from the National Assembly, Govern­ment-Owned Enterprises, and some Ministry Depart­ments and Agencies in the 2024 budget proposal. For in­stance, there is no breakdown of the National Assembly, the Niger Delta Development Commission and the North East Development Commis­sion’s budget.

“For emphasis, the budgets of key revenue generating government entities— including the Nigeria Ports Authority, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (NSPM), to mention a few—are conspicuously missing from the proposed 2024 budget presented to the National Assembly.

“Furthermore, the proposed budget’s total sum is N24.08 trillion, indicating a discrepancy of N3.42 tril­lion compared to the N27.5 trillion aggregate budget presented. We suspect that the difference above com­prises the aggregate budgets of the Government-Owned Enterprises. To this effect, the Government-Owned En­terprises’ proposed revenue and expenditures require dis­aggregation. The revenues and expenditures of several Government-Owned Enter­prises have historically been absent from formal budget presentations.

“Former President Mu­hammadu Buhari promised to ensure not only the bud­gets of all MDAs and GOEs are present in the annual ap­propriation bill but also that their budgets are defended and assented to publicly. This was not implemented before the end of his tenure, and the Tinubu administration has carried on in this regard. This also indicates the need for more Government-Owned Enterprises’ budget imple­mentation reports.

“A detailed analysis of the budget also reveals du­plications in allocations, particularly in renovating the President’s and Vice President’s quarters. The Federal Government made provisions for a cumulative sum of N8 billion (N4 billion each) through the 2023 sup­plementary budget for reno­vating the President’s official quarters in Aso Rock Villa and Dodan Barracks.

“Surprisingly, an addition­al N500 million has been allocated to the renovation of the President’s quarters in Aso Rock Villa, even as N5 bil­lion has been earmarked for the renovation of the Pres­ident’s quarters in Dodan Barracks. Similarly, the Vice President’s quarters in Lagos and Abuja, which got a cumu­lative sum of N5.5 billion in the 2023 supplementary bud­get for renovation, equally got allocations of N4 billion, N300 million, and N5 billion each in the 2024 budget.”

“There is a significant issue; the economy is failing. Growth is slow, and leadership is actually lacking, Onigbinde made this remark in Lagos at the BudgIT Active Citizens Award’s inaugural ceremony.

“CBN has been hijacked and used as a funnel to provide extra-budgeting funding for the government and that has led to a significant level of inflation, this cannot continue.

“The budget is not well implemented. It could be better but we are not doing well. It is not effective.

I think the fundamental issue is that we’re not planning; we just spend. The quality of our planning compared to what is being delivered is very weak.”

Nigeria’s inflation rate in the month of July 2022 rose to a 17-year high of 19.64 percent. This compares to 18.6 percent recorded in the previous month of June 2022.

Nigeria’s debts have increased by almost N4 trillion over the last five months, to N45.25 trillion, a review of official records from the Debt Management Office (DMO) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shown.

The organisers made this known in a press statement issued on Monday, August 22, 2022, three months before the conference.

In recent times, there have been several attacks on digital rights in Africa. Digital rights are human rights in online spaces. These rights include but are not limited to, the right to privacy, freedom of opinion and speech, freedom of information and communication, gender rights, and the right to freedom from violence.

Citizens’ digital rights are breached if they are the subject of digital surveillance; if they are covertly targeted with disinformation to manipulate their beliefs and behaviour; if their mobile or internet connection is restricted; or if they are arrested or attacked for expressing a political opinion online.

Research shows that Africa has become the most censorship-intensive continent across the globe, responsible for 10 (nearly 53%) of the cases in 2021. Africa led the social media shutdown numbers during election days (3 out of 4 total cases were in Congo, Uganda, and Zambia). Chad blocked the internet following a raid at the property of Yaya Dillo, a representative of Chad’s government opposition. 

The Nigerian government suspended Twitter in Nigeria, the announcement came two days after the microblogging site removed a tweet by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. Violation of digital rights in Africa has become a prevalent issue and if proactive steps are not taken, it may persist.

It is therefore imperative to have an intellectual conversation on safeguarding the digital rights of African citizens before, during and after elections. The one-day conference will be held on Thursday, November 17, 2022, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, with the theme Protecting Digital Rights in Closing Spaces. 

The conference will have 4 breakout sessions focused on data privacy, public accountability, the inclusion of People With Disabilities (PWDs) and insecurity and others.

According to BudgIT’s Global Director, Oluseun Onigbinde, “there is no better time to emphasise the need to discuss long-standing and emerging issues with digital freedom in Africa. This includes policies and legislations that have either aided digital rights violations or improved freedom of expression, right to privacy,  right to digital access, and many more. This year alone, we have seen how several African governments, including the Nigerian government, tried to stifle access to freedom of expression on different digital platforms, against the ideals of democracy everyone should stand for. The NMCG will avail stakeholders, state actors and the civil society with the opportunity to co-create means of addressing the current loopholes”.

Speaking on the development, ‘Gbenga Sesan, the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative (PIN) said: “This year’s conference comes at a very important time that we are seeing unending policy threats, citizen advocacy against closing civic spaces and upcoming elections in various African countries. NMCG 2022 will discuss how various African governments are introducing new policies and legislative proposals that promise to fight online harms but target dissenting voices, as well as analyse recent efforts that have demonstrated what’s possible when civil society and citizens fight to keep civic spaces open. With upcoming elections in Kenya, Nigeria and other African countries, the conference comes at a great time to discuss what various stakeholders must do to maximise digital opportunities during such important events”.

According to EiE’s Executive Director, ‘Yemi Adamolekun, “We underestimate how much of our lives are shaped by digital tools. We also underestimate how much governments around the world are threatened by spaces they can’t control. We look forward to exploring these issues during the conference!”.

More information on the 2022 Conference is available on the website. You can book a seat here.