BudgIT, a civic-tech non-profit organisation, says 460
projects amounting to N378.9 billion were duplicated in the 2022 budget.
Iyanu Fatoba, communications associate at BudgIT, disclosed
this in a statement.
On December 31, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the
N17.13 trillion 2022 appropriation bill into law.
The presidency had submitted a proposed fiscal budget of N16.391 trillion to the national assembly, but the lawmakers later raised it to N17.127 trillion — an increase of N735.8 billion.
BudgIT said it uncovered the discrepancies after examining
the 21,108 capital projects in the budget.
“Our preliminary analysis of the 21,108 capital projects in
the 2022 approved budget revealed 460 duplicated projects amounting to N378.9
billion,” the statement reads.
“Recall that BudgIT observed 316 duplicated projects
inserted into the 2021 FG Budget approved by NASS. ICPC verified 257
duplications, while the Budget Office confirmed the existence of only 185
duplicated projects worth N20.13bn, after which it informed the public that
funds were not released for the projects in 2021.”
BudgIT also mentioned the occurrence of “inflated projects”
amounting to billions of naira directly linked to the State House and the
presidency.
It listed them to include N20.8 billion requested by the
presidency to construct a 14-bed presidential wing at the existing State House
Medical Center; N28.72 million 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.
Speaking of projects approved under ministries, departments
and agencies (MDAs) that do not have the capacity to execute them, BudgIT said
the National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW) has N1.3 billion or 64% of its
capital budget dedicated to purchasing motorcycles, street lights and other
projects outside its mandate.
The organisation also raised questions on the ministry of
environment which has an allocation of N67.8 million to construct “gun
armories” in Cross River, Kaduna, Borno and Yobe states, even though the
ministry is not a security agency.
It also said the River Basin Development Authorities (RBDA)
had metamorphosed into an agency that constructs roads and supplies street
lights.
“A cumulative total of N6.3billion was allocated to
supplying street lights in 73 communities across the 36 states, while N14.8
billion 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,” the statement reads.
Speaking on the findings, Gabriel Okeowo, BudgIT’s country
director, described the duplicated projects as “loopholes for fraud”.
According to him, they are crimes against the 86 million
Nigerians living below the poverty line, an injustice to hardworking taxpayers
and an open mockery of countries and lending institutions that intend to lend
Nigeria N6.29 trillion in 2022.
“BudgIT is currently
finalising its detailed analysis of the approved FG 2022 budget which would be
presented to all stakeholders in the executive and legislative arm of
government as well as the general citizens,” Okeowo added.
“In the meantime, we call on the government to prioritise
projects that are of utmost benefit and exercise discipline in implementing
duplicated and poorly costed projects in the 2022 budget.”
BudgIT also urged Nigerians, CSOs, the private sector, the
international community, and reformers to join the call for an urgent redress
of the issues to ensure public funds work for all Nigerians and not for a
privileged few politicians.
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