Dataphyte Foundation to Champion Data Interoperability at Nigeria Accountability Summit 2025

The Nigeria Accountability Summit (NAS) 2025 will gather government officials, civil society leaders, development partners, and accountability advocates from across the country to discuss one important question: “How can stronger accountability drive inclusive economic growth for Nigerians?”

This year’s summit, themed “Strengthening Accountability for Inclusive Economic Growth,” will build on the progress made in previous editions. It will take place as Nigeria continues to tackle long-standing challenges like corruption, weak governance, poverty, and poor service delivery, issues that have held back national development for decades.

A Platform for Real Change

The 2024 edition of the summit made important progress. Participants assessed the Federal Government’s 8-Point Agenda and made 17 actionable recommendations to improve public sector performance. Less than a year later, many of those commitments have already produced visible results:

• The House of Representatives completed the federal audit cycle for the first time since 1999.

• Over N32 billion was released through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, supporting more than 8,000 primary health centres. 

• The World Bank-backed fibre-optic project expanded to over 90,000 kilometres, improving digital access across Nigeria.

• A $600 million RAAMP investment is now rehabilitating 200,000 kilometres of rural roads, helping farmers and improving rural livelihoods.

Despite these gains, the Nigerian economy still faces serious problems, from poor infrastructure to limited social safety nets. NAS 2025 aims to focus on how accountability can turn these small gains into inclusive growth that benefits all citizens.

Dataphyte’s Focus: Building Connected Systems for Accountability

As one of the implementing partners of NAS 2025, Dataphyte Foundation will host a breakout session titled “Strengthening Service Delivery Accountability through System Interoperability.”

This session will focus on a growing problem in Nigeria’s public sector,  the fragmentation of data systems. Across ministries, departments, and agencies, information is collected and stored in separate systems that do not communicate with each other.

This lack of interoperability makes it hard to track performance, verify spending, or ensure that citizens receive promised services.

For instance, in healthcare, there are cases of hospitals using different digital platforms, while many still rely on paper records. Data from one hospital or agency often cannot be shared with another, leading to duplication and inefficiency. In education, differences in data collection methods between states and ministries make it difficult to identify out-of-school children or distribute resources fairly. Similar problems exist in other areas such as public finance, social protection, and infrastructure management.

These silos not only reduce efficiency but also weaken accountability. Without connected systems, it becomes nearly impossible to check if public funds are being used properly. This lack of transparency has even contributed to Nigeria’s high rate of illicit financial flows, estimated at $17.72 billion annually, about 20 percent of Africa’s total losses.

What to Expect from Dataphyte’s Session

The breakout session will bring together experts and accountability organisations including Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), PPDC, Integrity Organisation, and the International Budget Partnership (IBP). Together, they will:

• Discuss how disconnected systems hinder effective planning and service delivery.

• Explore frameworks for building interoperable data systems in the public sector.

• Share success stories from within and outside Nigeria.

• Recommend solutions to make government systems work together for the benefit of citizens.

Dataphyte will moderate the session and produce a communiqué summarizing key takeaways and actionable steps. These recommendations will later be shared with relevant government agencies to encourage adoption and follow-up action.

Why This Matters

At the heart of Dataphyte’s work is the belief that open, connected, and accountable data systems lead to better governance. Through this summit, Dataphyte Foundation hopes to promote data interoperability as a foundation for transparent service delivery and responsible digital governance. 

As the nation prepares for NAS 2025, Dataphyte is set to make a strong case for how improved data integration can help Nigeria deliver better healthcare, education, and social services, ensuring that public resources truly work for the people.