Trouble In National Assembly As BudgIT Uncovers N378.9bn Duplicated Projects

“Examples include the N20.8bn requested by the Presidency to construct a 14-bed presidential wing at the existing State House Medical Centre, N28.72m requested for the purchase of two units of 10kg washing machine and six units of LG televisions in the State House Lagos Liaison Office, among others,” it said.

BudgIT quoted the National Agency for Great Green Wall, which was set up to prevent land degradation and desertification afflicting 11 states in northern Nigeria and to boost food security in the country, as saying N1.3bn or 64 per cent of its capital budget was dedicated to purchasing motorcycles, street lights and other projects outside its mandate.

It said, “This is disingenuous, especially as communities in these states are being ravaged by bandits and terrorists who often arrive in motorcycles.

“Likewise, four recreational parks under the Ministry of Environment have a total allocation of N67.8m to construct ‘gun armouries’ in Cross Rivers, Kaduna, Borno and Yobe States, even though the Ministry of Environment is not a security agency.

“This raises the question – Why is the ministry of environment stashing guns in recreational parks in these states in an election campaign year and at a time when the country is facing unrest in nearly all of the 36 states?”

According to BudgIT, the River Basin Development Authorities under the Ministry of Water Resources, set up to facilitate the management of water resources for agriculture, has instead metamorphosed into an agency that constructs roads and supplies street lights.

“A cumulative total of N6.3bn was allocated to supplying street lights in 73 communities across the 36 states, while N14.8bn was allocated for the construction of 219 roads across 36 states; whereas the majority of the roads are the responsibilities of state and local governments and not the Federal Government,” it said.