Frequently asked questions

The KDBS Open Data Platform is a centralised data portal built and operated by the Kaduna State Bureau of Statistics (KDBS). It enables government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to publish official datasets, and allows researchers, analysts, and the public to discover, search, and download those datasets freely.

No. All publicly available datasets can be browsed, searched, previewed, and downloaded without creating an account. An account is only required to publish datasets as an MDA representative or to access certain administrative features.

Datasets can be uploaded and downloaded in multiple formats including CSV, Excel (XLSX), JSON, PDF, Shapefile (GIS), and others depending on what the publishing MDA has provided. The platform also supports in-browser data previewing for tabular formats.

Use the search bar on the Datasets page to enter keywords related to the data you are looking for. You can further filter results by Sector, MDA, tags, file format, or date. You can also browse by Sector or MDA directly using the navigation.

Dataset publishing is restricted to verified MDA representatives — designated focal persons within each government Ministry, Department or Agency (MDA) that has been onboarded onto the platform. If your MDA is not yet onboarded, please contact KDBS via the Contact page.

When an MDA submits a dataset, it goes through a validation cycle managed by KDBS. This involves checking data quality, completeness, and compliance with statistical standards. Once approved by an authorised signatory, the dataset is marked as verified and published publicly.

Sectors represent the broad thematic areas of government (e.g. Healthcare, Agriculture, Education), while MDAs (Ministries, Departments and Agencies) are the individual government bodies that sit within those sectors and publish datasets. Browsing by Sector lets you explore related datasets across multiple MDAs at once.

Public datasets are generally freely available for research, analysis, and public interest reporting. Commercial use may be subject to the specific license attached to each dataset. Always check the licence information shown on the dataset page before using data commercially.

If you notice an error or inconsistency in a published dataset, please use the Feedback feature on the dataset page, or contact the KDBS helpdesk directly via the Contact page. We will investigate and update the dataset if needed.