Dataphyte and PPDC Organise Data Journalism Training to Investigate COVID19 Spending

With the enormous funds committed by the federal and state  governments, agencies and individuals towards the fight against  the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria, there are renewed concerns about the transparency in the management of available resources.

To this end, Datapyte Nigeria and the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) is organizing a one-day data journalism training for journalists across the print and broadcast media.

The workshop  which will take place on Tuesday, May 16, 2020 is intended to train investigative journalists on how to use data being published on social accountability platforms for their investigations and data-driven reporting of financial activities including COVID-19 donations and spending by the Nigerian government. Read also 

SIGNATURE SPECIAL REPORT:COVID-19 THREATENS NIGERIA’S PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE

Part of the efforts of the organisers is to combine budget and public contracting data with the enormous data published on Budeshi, NOCOPO and Open Treasury platforms to help journalists investigate and report possible misappropriation and corruption in the management of public funds as well as COVID-19 intervention funds in the country.

While commending the government for making public, funds received and the procurement data for the COVID-19 funds, founder of Dataphyte, Joshua Olufemi said the goal of the project was to increase transparency and accountability in the management of COVID-19 intervention funds.

Also speaking on the training, Ifeoma Onyebuchi, Program Director at PPDC, said the partnership provides an opportunity for collaboration towards supporting ongoing efforts by the government and other stakeholders in strengthening accountability mechanisms and transparency in the use and management of public resources.

Media organisations partnering with the organisers include signaturetv.org,  Business Day, Daily Trust, International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Order Paper, Premium Times, TheCable, Tribune  and  Primorg