A new civic accountability report tracking federal government-funded projects under President Bola Tinubu’s administration has uncovered 92 fraudulently delivered projects worth N15.07 billion, with five states accounting for more than half of the dubious executions.
The 2024/2025 project tracking report released on Thursday by Tracka, BudgIT’s citizen-led monitoring platform, showed that Imo, Lagos, Kwara, Abia and Ogun have the highest concentration of fraudulent projects.
According to the findings, 57.1 per cent of all the fraudulently delivered projects, involving N8.61 billion of the total N15.07 billion, are located in these five states.
The report monitored 2,760 projects across 28 states and revealed that only 1,438 were completed, 660 were ongoing, 471 were not executed, and 99 were abandoned.
The 92 fraudulently delivered projects were characterised by fund diversion, relocation of projects to unintended locations, payments for projects already executed in previous budget cycles, partial completion, or substandard execution.
Tracka stated that it conducted targeted tracking of strategic infrastructure projects in sectors critical to national development, including dams, primary healthcare centres and federal interventions in the Niger Delta region.
The findings revealed major implementation gaps, particularly in dam-related projects vital for irrigation, flood control and power generation.
Due to repeated national grid collapses recorded in 2024, the platform tracked 16 dam projects across 13 states valued at N432 million. None of the projects had been completed at the time of assessment. Four were abandoned, six were progressing slowly, while six had not commenced despite evidence of funding approvals.
Regarding primary healthcare infrastructure, Tracka tracked 47 revitalised primary healthcare centres across 25 states and found that only 26 facilities showed visible improvements in infrastructure or equipment. Twelve centres were undergoing renovation, eight showed no sign of intervention despite being listed as revitalised, while one facility had been completely abandoned.
The report noted that in many affected communities, residents continue to travel long distances for medical services due to inadequate staffing, poor equipment and weak sanitation standards.
In the Niger Delta, the platform monitored 48 federal government-funded projects across Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta and Rivers states. Tracka reported that of these, 29 projects were completed and delivered measurable benefits to communities, 13 had not commenced, four were ongoing, and two were untraceable despite confirmed funding.
The report, however, highlighted 15 success stories in which citizen engagement helped drive project delivery. These include the revitalisation of Kaida Sabo Primary Healthcare Centre, renovation works at Nawairudeen Primary School in Plateau State, completion of a previously stalled healthcare centre in Ikirun, empowerment programmes for persons with disabilities in Katsina, erosion control projects in Rivers State and borehole projects in Akwa Ibom.
The Head of Tracka, Joshua Osiyemi, emphasised the need for citizen oversight to ensure that public funds deliver real impact. “If just 5 per cent of Nigerians engage in oversight, monitoring could reach 50 per cent, significantly reducing opportunities for corruption and greatly improving service delivery and quality of life across communities,” he said.
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