By Chinelo Obogo
Civic Society Organisation, BudgIT Nigeria, has said that it has uncovered over 11,000 projects worth N6.93 trillion which were inserted by the National Assembly in the 2025 budget.
In a statement published on its official X handle on Tuesday, the CSO said that what began as isolated irregularities has, over the years, evolved into a deeply entrenched ‘culture of exploitation and abuse’, with the budget process now a ‘playground for self-serving political interests’, led by top-ranking members of the National Assembly
President Bola Tinubu on December 18, 2024, presented an Appropriation Bill of N49.74 trillion to the National Assembly for the 2025 fiscal year. The President later increased the budget to N54.2 trillion, which was then increased by NASS to N54.99trn.
BudgIT said that while analysing the budget, it discovered that 11,122 projects were inserted into it. The CSO said that 238 projects, each worth more than N5 billion were inserted with little to no justification, while another 984 projects worth N1.71 trillion and 1,119 projects, costing between N500 million and N1 billion were inserted indiscriminately. It said that 39 per cent of the insertions made up of 4,371 projects worth N1.72 trillion, were forced into the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture, raising its capital allocation from N242.5bn to N1.95trn, while the Ministry of Science and Technology also saw its allocation increase from N994.98bn to N1.1trn from insertions.
The CSO said: “Our analysis reveals that 238 projects valued above N5 billion each, with a cumulative value of N2.29 trillion, were inserted with little to no justification. 984 projects worth N1.71 trillion and 1,119 projects within the range of N500 million to N1 billion, totaling N641.38 billion, were indiscriminately inserted.
“A closer look shows that 3,573 projects worth N653.19 billion are assigned directly to federal constituencies and 1,972 projects worth N444.04 billion to senatorial districts. Shockingly 39% of all insertions – 4371 projects worth N1.72 trillion – were forced into the Ministry of Agriculture’s budget, inflating its capital allocation from N242.5 billion to N1.95 trillion and budget, and the Federal Ministry of Budget and Planning, also saw bloated allocations of N994.98 billion and N1.1 trillion respectively, from insertions alone.
“Even more concerning is the targeted misuse of agencies like the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (Lagos) and the Federal Cooperative College Oji River as dumping grounds for politically motivated projects. These agencies lack the technical capacity to execute such projects, leading to rampant underperformance and waste.”
BudgIT urged the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, to seek a constitutional interpretation of the court on the extent of the appropriation powers of the National Assembly, particularly its authority to unilaterally introduce new capital projects without the concurrence of the Executive. It also urged anti-graft agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to “take action to track these projects and ensure Nigeria gets value for money.”