Foremost civic-tech organization leading the advocacy for transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s public finance, BudgIT has identified duplicated projects in the 2022 budget.
The organization’s preliminary analysis of the 21,108 capital projects in the 2022 approved budget revealed 460 duplicated projects amounting to N378.9billion.
BudgIT had earlier observed 316 duplicated projects inserted into the 2021 FG Budget approved by NASS. ICPC verified 257 duplications, while the Budget Office confirmed the existence of only 185 duplicated projects worth N20.13bn, after which it informed the public that funds were not released for the projects in 2021.
BudgIT also noted that the occurrence of inflated projects amounting to billions of naira directly linked to the State House and the Presidency is a cause for concern.
Citing examples, the organization revealed that the sum of N20.8billion was requested by the Presidency to construct a 14-bed presidential wing at the existing State House Medical Center, N28.72million requested for the purchase of 2units of 10KG washing machine and 6units of LG Televisions in the State House Lagos Liaison Office, among others.
According to BudgIT, “Speaking of projects approved under MDAs that do not have the capacity to execute them, The National Agency For Great Green Wall which was set up to prevent land degradation and desertification afflicting 11 states in northern Nigeria, and to boost food security in the country has N1.3billion or 64% of its capital budget dedicated to purchasing Motorcycles, Street lights and other projects outside its mandate. This is disingenuous especially as communities in these states are being ravaged by bandits and terrorists who often arrive in motorcycles.
“Likewise, four (4) recreational parks under the Ministry of Environment have a total allocation of N67.8million to construct “Gun Armouries” in Cross Rivers, Kaduna, Borno & Yobe States, even though the Ministry of Environment is not a security agency. This raises the question – Why is the ministry of environment stashing guns in recreational parks in these states in an election campaign year and at a time when the country is facing unrest in nearly all of the 36 states?”
BudgIT also revealed that the River Basin Development Authorities (RBDA), under the Ministry of Water Resources which was set up to facilitate management of water resources for agriculture that would end the tide of food supply fluctuations that affect food prices, has “instead metamorphosed into an agency that constructs roads and supplies street light”.
This is coming at a time the country is currently battling a double-digit inflation, one of the worst 20 out of 196 countries in the world marked by soaring prices of food, consumer goods, and other services.
The analysis revealed that a cumulative total of N6.3billion was allocated to supplying street lights in 73 communities across the 36 states, while N14.8billion was allocated for the construction of 219 roads across 36 states; whereas the majority of the roads are the responsibilities of State and Local governments and not the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, BudgIT is currently finalizing its detailed analysis of the approved FG 2022 budget which would be presented to all stakeholders in the executive and legislative arm of government as well as the general citizens.