- Safiu Kehinde
Nigerian Civic tech organisation, BudgIT, has uncovered over 11,000 projects worth N6.93 trillion allegedly inserted by the National Assembly in the 2025 budget.
This was disclosed in a statement published on the organisation’s official X handle on Tuesday.
In what it described as a playground for self-serving political interest, BudgIT decried the spate of budget padding allegedly led by top-ranking members of the National Assembly.
“BudgIT, a prominent civic tech organisation promoting transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s public finance, has uncovered 11,122 projects valued at N6.93trn inserted by the National Assembly into the 2025 Federal Government budget.
“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,” the statement partly read.
In further breakdown of the projects and worths, BudgIT disclosed that of the total 11,122 projects inserted into the budget, 238 projects, each worth more than N5 billion, with a cumulative value of N2.29 trillion 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 and totalling N641.38 billion were inserted indiscriminately.
It added that 39 per cent of the insertions (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.
“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,” the statement read further.