The NEST Initiative presents

From public
records to
ground truth.

Know what was budgeted. See what was built.

BudgetWalk helps you learn how public money works, find the projects meant for your community and check them on the ground, with Clara to explain every step.

Ask Clara Open a sample Project Passport
2025 capital budget Construction of 2-classroom block ₦36,750,000
GPS verified32 m from the registered site
  1. 01Learn
  2. 02Understand
  3. 03Observe
  4. 04Verify
  5. 05Engage
  6. 06Act

Built for everyone who follows public money

How it works

Learn the system.
Go and look.
Ask for answers.

BudgetWalk connects what you learn, what the records say and what you can see on site, so anyone can follow public money all the way to the ground.

Six steps, from your phone
to the project site Start learning with Clara
01 Learn02 Understand

On your phone

Short lessons with Clara on budgets and procurement, then open the record of any project near you.

03 Observe04 Verify

At the project site

The Smart Camera logs GPS, time and project, and checks that you are standing at the registered site.

05 Engage06 Act

With the institution

Send a Project Evidence Brief to the institution responsible and track every response in public.

Clara

Ask Clara in
your own words.

Clara is BudgetWalk’s civic learning and public project assistant. Ask the way you would ask a well-informed friend, and get a clear answer that shows where it came from.

Democracy, budgets, transparency and social accountability, taught through short conversations, examples and quizzes.

Clara is non-partisan. It explains institutions, processes, rights and evidence, and never tells you which party or candidate to support.

ClaraClara Learn
Illustrative conversation

What is a capital project?

ClaraAI-generated

A capital project is spending on something that lasts, like a school building, a road or a borehole. It is different from day-to-day costs such as salaries, which are called recurrent spending. In a state budget, each capital project is usually listed separately, with the amount allocated to it.Salaries and other day-to-day costs are recurrent spending.

Source: Budget analysis and public financePublic finance, lesson 3

Learn democracy
by practising it.

Four learning tracks made of short lessons, quizzes and challenges that use real project records, so every idea you learn is one you can use in your own community.

Democracy and civic participation

Separation of powers, public institutions, citizen rights, elections and constructive engagement.

Budget analysis and public finance

Revenue and expenditure, recurrent and capital spending, budget performance and comparisons.

Social accountability

Community monitoring, citizen scorecards, public hearings and tracking how institutions respond.

Transparency and open government

Access to information, open contracting, conflict of interest and public expenditure tracking.

Practise with real records

Challenges sit alongside quizzes, badges and the BudgetWalk Civic Monitor Certificate.

  • Find the AllocationSpot the amount attached to a project in a budget extract.
  • Spot the DifferenceCompare two monitoring photos and describe what changed.
  • Follow the ProjectTrace a project from allocation to procurement to delivery.
  • Accountability ScenarioDecide what evidence you need before raising a concern.
  • Budget DetectiveAnswer questions using real project and budget records.

Smart Camera

A photo
becomes evidence.

The Smart Camera records where, when and what, keeps the original file safe, and lets Clara describe the scene, so one visit becomes a record anyone can check.

  • Location checkCompares your GPS position with the project’s registered location.
  • Nearby projectsSuggests registered projects around you and asks which one you are at.
  • Draft captionsClara describes what it sees. You correct or approve it before anything is submitted.
  • Signboard readingReads the project signboard and flags differences from the records for human review.
  • Works offlineCapture GPS, photos and notes without signal. Everything syncs when you reconnect.
  • Tamper-evidentKeeps the original file with a digital fingerprint, and blurs faces and number plates in public copies.
Progress between visitsBW-NS-0142, illustrative
Visit 1, 12 Mar 2026 Foundation
Visit 3, 14 Aug 2026 Structural walls
  1. Empty site
  2. Excavation
  3. Foundation
  4. Structural walls
  5. Roofing
  6. Finishing
  7. Completed facility
Caption by Clara, confirmed by the monitorAI-assisted

Structural walls are visible across the project site. Roofing has not commenced. Construction materials remain visible. Compared with the previous visit, structural development is evident.

GPS verified, 32 m from site Original file preserved Faces blurred in public copies

Project Passport

Every project
gets a passport.

One permanent public page that brings together a project’s budget, contract, location, monitoring visits, community feedback and institutional responses.

Open a sample Project Passport
Project PassportBW-NS-0142Illustrative

Construction of 2-classroom block

[Community], [LGA], Niger State
Budgeted
₦36,750,000
2025 capital budget, education sector
Implemented by
[Institution]
As named in the budget record
Contract
Not yet public
Award documents requested
Location
Verified
3 visits within 50 m of the registered site
On the ground
Structural walls
Roofing not started at the last visit
Community
6 reports
Residents say the block is not yet in use
Visible progressIndicative only. Human verification required.
  1. Empty site
  2. Excavation
  3. Foundation
  4. Structural walls
  5. Roofing
  6. Finishing
  7. Completed facility

Ground Truth Score

6 of 8 checksModerate confidence

Measures how strong the evidence is, never whether anyone did wrong. A low score means more verification is needed.

Accountability Signals

2 raised

Timeline: the expected completion date has passed and roofing has not started.

Signboard: the completion date on site differs from the budget record.

Signals are prompts to look closer, not findings or accusations.

Project PassportBW-NS-0142

Construction of 2-classroom block

[Community], [LGA], Niger State
Budgeted
₦36,750,000
Location
Verified
On the ground
Structural walls
Community
6 reports
Ground Truth ScoreModerate confidence
6 of 8 evidence checks met
2 Accountability Signals to reviewPrompts to look closer, not findings or accusations.
Open the Project Passport

Civic AI you can
hold to account.

Clara works where accuracy and neutrality matter most. These rules are built into BudgetWalk from the start.

  • AI-generated content is always labelled as AI.
  • Original photos and files are preserved, unaltered.
  • Anyone can request a correction or appeal.
  • No facial recognition.
  • Only the personal data a task needs is collected.
  • Every change is kept in an audit history.
  • Sources are shown wherever possible.
  • Allegations are kept separate from verified findings.
  • Confidence levels are shown where they matter.
  • People review every consequential observation.

The pilot

Starting in
Niger State.

The first pilot works with selected communities in Niger State, building on The NEST Initiative’s local networks and programme experience. It begins on [pilot start date].

Projects
50 to 100 public projects
Sectors
Education, healthcare, roads, water and sanitation, and community infrastructure
Monitors
Residents who complete Clara’s learning pathway, and earn the BudgetWalk Civic Monitor Certificate and train to monitor projects
  1. 01LearnComplete Clara’s learning modules.
  2. 02TrainPractise monitoring and responsible reporting.
  3. 03DiscoverIdentify and map public projects.
  4. 04VerifyCollect GPS-backed evidence on site.
  5. 05AnalyseCompare evidence with Clara’s help.
  6. 06EngageSend evidence briefs to institutions.
  7. 07Follow upRecord responses and changes.
  8. 08Learn againReal cases become new lessons.
Community monitors on a site visitPlaceholder for your field photo
A Clara learning sessionPlaceholder for your field photo
A community meeting with the institutionPlaceholder for your field photo

Follow public money
to the ground.

Start with a question for Clara, or bring BudgetWalk to your community with The NEST Initiative.

Ask Clara
Partnerships: [partnerships email]