A damning civic audit has exposed a massive hemorrhage of public funds, naming Kwara, Ogun, Benue, and Akwa Ibom among the states at the heart of a N219 billion scandal involving fully funded but completely unexecuted federal projects in the 2024 budget.
The revelation comes from a new report by Tracka, a civic technology platform under BudgIT, which tracked the implementation of 2,760 capital projects across 30 states over 13 months.
The projects, with a total allocation of N2.26 trillion from the 2024 federal budget, were meant to drive national development but have instead become symbols of systemic failure and alleged corruption.
The report’s most shocking finding is that 28.8% of the tracked projects, valued at approximately N219 billion, were never executed despite funds being officially released by the Federal Government. Tracka’s investigators found no physical evidence of work starting on these projects at their designated locations.
The states specifically cited for hosting these “ghost projects” are:
· Kwara
· Ogun
· Benue
· Akwa Ibom
· Sokoto
A Cascade of Failures: From Abandoned to Fraudulent
The financial wastage extends beyond phantom projects. The report categorizes other severe malfeasance:
- Abandoned Projects: A concentration of abandoned projects worth N7.8 billion was identified in Taraba, Abia, Adamawa, Ogun, and another unnamed state.
- Fraudulent Delivery: An alarming 57.1% of projects suffered from what Tracka terms “fraudulent delivery.” This refers to substandard work, diversion of materials, or poorly executed projects that do not meet specifications.
N8.61 billion was disbursed for such projects, with Imo, Lagos, Kwara, and Ogun states highlighted as hotspots. Notably, Kwara and Ogun appear in both the “unexecuted” and “fraudulent delivery” categories, indicating deep-seated implementation failures.
Sector-Specific Breakdown: Dams, Healthcare, Niger Delta
The report provided detailed insights into critical sectors:
· Dam Projects: Following 12 national grid collapses in 2024, Tracka investigated 16 dam projects across 13 states valued at N432 million. None were completed. Four were abandoned, six were progressing slowly, and six had not started despite funding.
· Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs): Of 47 PHCs assessed nationwide, only 26 showed improvements. Twelve remained under construction, while eight operated in “degraded conditions with crumbling structures and inadequate supplies” despite allocated funds.
· Niger Delta Projects: Tracking 48 projects across four Niger Delta states found 29 completed, 4 ongoing, 2 untraceable, and 13 not started despite the release of billions in funds.
Root Causes: Vague Projects and Weak Oversight
Tracka identified systemic flaws enabling this waste:
· Project Ambiguity: Many projects lack clear, specific locations, making monitoring “difficult and accountability nearly impossible.”
· Mandate Violation: The report found 206 solar-related projects, but only 33 had clear locations, with several assigned to agencies outside their technical mandates.
· Weak Handover Processes: A lack of formal handover processes between contractors and communities allows for substandard work to be accepted.
Official Reaction and Calls to Action
At the report’s launch in Abuja, Tracka’s Head, Osiyemi Joshua, stated, “There is a major problem with vague project descriptions, no handover processes, and agencies implementing projects outside their mandate. Weak planning and poor transparency continue to undermine public investments.”
Oluseun Onigbinde, Executive Director of BudgIT, revealed that nearly 40% of tracked projects were either abandoned or improperly delivered. He lamented, “Nigeria spends heavily but plans poorly. Evaluation is weak, and that is why value for money remains elusive.”
Onigbinde called for stronger engagement from citizens, the media, and the National Assembly to curb waste and enforce accountability in public spending.
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