A global challenge to use Nigeria’s beneficial ownership data for impact stories

Background

Nigeria has made significant progress towards beneficial ownership transparency (BOT) since 2020. Throughout this time, Open Ownership has been supporting the development of platforms and tools that advance data availability in the country:

• We have been collaborating with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on the development of their new beneficial ownership (BO) registry, which was launched in May 2023. The data is structured according to our Beneficial Ownership Data Standard, which means that all Open Ownership tools can be used to analyse it
• Under the Opening Extractives programme, we’re supporting the development of the Nigerian edition of Joining the Dots with Politically Exposed Persons, a red flag platform that combines BO data with data on mining, oil and gas licence holders, politically exposed persons and their relatives, in order to identify possible conflicts of interest, corruption or misuse of public office
• Finally, in October 2022 the United Kingdom (UK) launched the Register of Overseas Entities (ROE). Open Ownership analyses the ROE data on a monthly basis and release a spreadsheet with this information, which shows that over 600 Nigerian beneficial owners are recorded. This provides a useful source of information to track Nigerian ownership of assets. For example, as part of a probe into one of the biggest corruption scandals in Nigeria’s history, in May 2023, Bloomberg found that the son of Nigeria’s president-elect bought an $11 million London mansion that his predecessor’s government was seeking to confiscate
  
  

The Challenge

We are seeking visualisations and infographics of real findings from data investigations.

This challenge is open to any individual or organisation interested in using BOT resources, and governance, integrity and transparency in Nigeria. We ask you to analyse publicly available BO data and provide a visualisation or infographic highlighting your findings.

The output submitted should use at least two of the following data sources:

• CAC’s Beneficial Ownership Register
• Nigeria EITI’s beneficial ownership database
• Joining the Dots with Politically Exposed Persons platform
• Register of Overseas Entities spreadsheet
• The Open Ownership Register
  

Submissions

Submissions must:

• Be visual representations of your findings - written articles or reports will not be accepted
• Have accompanying notes showing the data sources used, and the raw data feeding into the visualisation or infographic.
• Use two of the data sources above; applicants can additionally use any other source of data (such as contracts, licences, sanction lists, political financing records, and tax payments)
• Be submitted to [email protected] by 23:59 CEST on 20 September 2023

Why join in?

The top three submissions will be engaged in further publicity and dissemination, and as a result the authors will receive:

• USD $750
• A showcase for all three submissions on the Open Ownership website
• The possibility of the authors being interviewed via video call, and an edited explainer published to YouTube and the Open Ownership website
• The submissions may be used for national and international presentations and meetings as examples of how BO data can be used and presented

Additionally, you will be helping to improve the quality of available BO data. The submissions may inform our policy and implementation recommendations, in order to:

• Identify gaps and improvements for data collection and publication
• Make concrete recommendations to implementers and key government agencies that can use the evidence for their own investigations.

Timeline

• 29 August: Challenge launched in the Joining the Dots event, and virtually
• 20 September: Deadline to submit materials
• 28 September: Announcement of winners on the International Day for Universal Access to Information

Selection committee

The selection committee will be composed of representatives from:

• Open Ownership
• Directorio Legislativo
• Civil Society Legislative Council of Nigeria (CISLAC, TI Nigeria Chapter)
• Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigeria.

Submissions will be assessed on

• A clear investigation with a comprehensible aim, process and results
• The quality of the visualisation or infographic which clearly demonstrates the above aim, process and results
• Factually rigorous notes/files showing the data sources used, and the raw data feeding into the visualisation or infographic
• Whether the submission shows innovation and builds on existing resources