Constituency projects: BudgIT questions allocation of N58bn on empowerment programmes

BudgIT, a civic-tech non-profit organisation, has questioned the allocation of N58.2 billion of the N100 billion earmarked for constituency projects on empowerment projects, among other irregularities.

Iyanu Fatoba, acting head, media and communications at BudgIT, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

BudgIT, through its project tracking arm, Tracka, said these empowerment projects, which are customarily vague and challenging to track, have been used as a funnel to transfer political benefits to party loyalists, particularly in a pre-election year by the national assembly.

According to Tracka’s analysis, the 2022 ZIPs consist of 41 projects with unspecified locations amounting to N4.89billion with the following breakdown by MDAs; Agriculture — 10, Education — 2, Health — 1, Humanitarian — 1, Information and Culture — 1, NASENI – 2, Science and Technology — 15, Water Resources — 3, SGF – 3, and Special Duties — 1.

“We would like to reiterate the importance of having detailed documentation of project locations as this provides the citizens with the correct information to hold the government accountable,” the statement reads.

“Whenever details of public projects are unavailable to the public, monitoring the implementation of such projects becomes difficult for the citizens, civil society, and auditing bodies. This creates a loophole for under-delivery and embezzlement of public funds.

“For instance, under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, N250m was allocated for the supply of motorcycles, grinding machines, and sewing machines to women and youth in north-central; however, no specific project location (state, local government area, ward, street and community) was stated.”

Commenting on the development, Uadamen Ilevbaoje, head of Tracka, expressed his displeasure over the high level of misplaced priority regarding projects nominated by elected representatives, poor service delivery, and lack of citizen inclusion in the project nomination process by the legislators at the national assembly.

“These irregularities were reflected in the high number of empowerment projects littered across the 2022 ZIPs. A case in point is the N28 billion allocated to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture under different agencies was not for agricultural-based projects but empowerment projects,” Ilevbaoja said.

“Likewise, the office of the secretary to the government of the federation had an allocation of N13 billion; however, a good number of projects under this office were empowerment projects that may not meet the people’s needs.

“Regarding projects domiciled in agencies whose mandates were not relevant to executing them, the Public Complaint Commission got N100 million for procuring 1 unit of CAT D7H wheel bulldozer caterpillar equipment for rural road rehabilitation in Ondo central senatorial district, Ondo.

“In Kano State, the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) headquarters was mandated to supervise N52 million project for the supply of assorted grain (rice) in Tsanyawa and Kunchi federal constituency.

“An educational institution should not be saddled with the responsibility of supplying grains.”

Ilevbaoja insisted that projects should be assigned to appropriate ministries and agencies that have the mandate of overseeing them.

According to him, the incapability of many agencies to effectively supervise projects has led to the poor execution of many projects, thereby wasting taxpayers’ funds.