The Niger Delta Citizens and Budget Platform (NDCBP) analyzed connections between the overt dependence on oil, persistent socio-economic problems, and lack of citizen participation in the budget process in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. During this third and final year of the project, activities included

• building the capacity of civil society organizations engaged in budget monitoring and advocacy
• analyzing budget implementation in several oil-producing Niger Delta states
• meeting with commissioners responsible for budgets to find ways to improve collaboration
• organizing town hall meetings in two states to facilitate interaction between citizens and senior government officials.

Since the start of the project in 2008, NDCBP’s analyses of local government budgets have revealed that many regional problems can be traced to oil dependency, low citizen participation, and the absence of development allocations in state and local budgets. In 2009, as a result of these efforts, the Nigerian government introduced a comprehensive economic policy reform bill.

NDCBP is a coalition of civil society organizations that promote mass mobilization to combat corruption in public offices in the Niger Delta and community participation in budget development and monitoring. NDCBP and another partner BANGOF have been collaborating closely on the BEITI program.