Report says 2024 budget loaded with ₦6.6trn untraceable projects

Amid the controversy surrounding the 2024 budget, a new report by Economic Confidential states that the budget passed by the National Assembly was padded with some untraceable projects worth ₦6.6 trillion.

On Tuesday, March 12, 2024, the Senate suspended Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) over the allegation that NASS padded the Appropriation Act.

However, in its analysis, Economic Confidential said it discovered ₦2,486,098,619,722 budgeted for capital projects in more than 15 ministries aggregated into regional projects.

It added that ₦4,185,711,477,842 was allocated to projects without geographic identifiers, thus complicating monitoring.

Breaking down the allocations, the report said the allocation to the South-West was ₦419,917,163,300, the South-East got ₦537,086,249,684; South-South — ₦224,969,978,366, North-West — ₦365,387,892,588, North-East — ₦349,434,063,602, and North-Central — ₦730,029,622,125.

Suspended Senator Abdul Ningi believes the Senate silenced him. [Channels TV] Pulse Nigeria

“Surprisingly, ₦6,671,810,092,564 (out of the ₦8,447,887,443,379), approximately 71.98% of the total ‘Development Capital Allocation’, was assigned to initiatives that are either elusive in terms of traceability or encumbered by accountability constraints,” the report stated.

For the Ministry of Youths, it stated that a total of ₦5,096,411,496 was budgeted for projects across all zones but locations of projects worth ₦2,868,851,764 were not indicated, while ₦21,614,361,733 was earmarked for projects in the Ministry of Sports across the six zones, but locations of some projects worth ₦7,464,061,733 were not stated.

Ministry of Defence has ₦3,762,721,808,585 set aside for projects across all zones, locations of projects worth ₦3,280,130,880,602 not mentioned; Ministry of Special Duties: ₦10,770,986,503 budgeted for projects across all zones, locations of projects worth ₦4,672,818,582 not identified.

A further breakdown shows that the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning gets ₦2,293,112,174,749 for projects across all zones, but locations of projects worth ₦383,729,998,776 were not stated.

The same applies to the Ministry of Tourism with ₦15,358,369,171 allocation pegged for projects across all zones, but locations of projects worth ₦1,206,655,625 were not disclosed.

The Ministry of Petroleum Resources gets ₦8,622,741,732 approved for projects across all zones, however, locations of projects worth ₦8,554,622,753 were not disclosed.

For the Ministry of Justice, ₦33,860,593,566 was budgeted for projects across all zones, but the locations of projects worth ₦25,742,716,841 were not identified. The same applies to the Ministry of Police Affairs with ₦99,382,436,919 allocation for projects across all zones, but locations of projects worth ₦49,090,806,535 were not disclosed.

For the Ministry of Agriculture, ₦895,398,209,400 earmarked for projects across all zones, locations of projects worth ₦124,131,394,058 not indicated; Ministry of Environment: ₦75,200,361,462 allocated for projects across all zones, locations of projects worth ₦55,278,212,086 not mentioned.

Ministry of Solid Minerals: ₦26,911,766,878 set aside for projects across all zones, locations of projects worth ₦21,524,219,531 not identified; while the Ministry of Works with ₦987,289,797,899 earmarked for projects across all zones, also has some of the projects locations worth ₦44,428,040,905 not stated.