A civic-tech non-profit organization, BudgIT has uncovered how agencies allocated projects above N112 billion outside their budget in the 2023 budget.
Oladayo Olufowose, the acting communications associate at BudgIT, said this through the BudgIT service delivery promotion platform, Tracka,that the infractions were uncovered in the 2023 approved budget
Recall that on January 3, 2023, former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the N21.83 trillion 2023 appropriation bill into law.
A statement from the platform read,“Our analysis also discovered that over 687 projects worth N112billion were allocated to agencies outside their mandate.
“The Nigerian Army was allocated N4.5 billion for the construction of Dengi-Kwalmiya-Gagdi-Wawus Bauchi Road in Plateau state, Nigerian Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research was assigned N1.2 billion across four projects to supply medical equipment to health centers in Ogun state, and N580 million was allocated to National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, to construct roads and streetlights in Abia state, amongst many others.”
Also expressing his displeasure, Ayomide Ladipo, acting head of Tracka ,expressed her displeasure over the discovery and pointed out that implications of assigning projects to agencies outside their mandate is that “it undermines monitoring, evaluation, and the sustainability of these projects”.
He argued that the agencies lacked relevant knowledge and human capital to ensure quality service delivery of its projects. According to him,other implications may include projects under-delivery and a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money and scarch resources.
He said,“An example is the News Agency of Nigeria which was allocated N200 million to construct solar streetlights in Rivers state. What business does NAN have with streetlights?”
He concluded by saying that there is a 21 percent reduction in the percentage of empowerment projects in 2023 when compared to 2022.
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