Budget Scandal Explodes: NASS Inserts ₦6.93 Trillion Worth Of Projects — BudgIt

BudgIT Nigeria, a civic tech and transparency-focused non-governmental organization, has raised serious concerns about the 2025 federal budget, alleging that the 10th National Assembly inserted 11,122 projects worth a staggering ₦6.93 trillion.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

According to BudgIT’s analysis, 238 of these projects—each valued at over ₦5 billion and collectively amounting to ₦2.29 trillion—were included in the budget without adequate justification.

The report further revealed that 984 projects worth ₦1.71 trillion, along with 1,119 projects ranging between ₦500 million and ₦1 billion (totalling ₦641.38 billion), were inserted haphazardly.

A breakdown of the insertions shows 3,573 projects valued at ₦653.19 billion tied directly to federal constituencies, while 1,972 projects worth ₦444.04 billion were allocated to senatorial districts.

Highlighting some of the more questionable expenditures, BudgIT cited 1,477 streetlight projects worth ₦393.29 billion, 538 boreholes at ₦114.53 billion, and 2,122 ICT-related projects totalling ₦505.79 billion. Also included was ₦6.74 billion allegedly set aside for the “empowerment of traditional rulers.”

Notably, 39% of the insertions—4,371 projects worth ₦1.72 trillion—were channelled into the Ministry of Agriculture, ballooning its capital allocation from ₦242.5 billion to ₦1.95 trillion. The Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning also saw inflated budgets, with insertions raising their totals by ₦994.98 billion and ₦1.1 trillion, respectively.

BudgIT also flagged the misuse of certain agencies, such as the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (Lagos) and the Federal Cooperative College, Oji River, as repositories for politically motivated projects. These institutions, the report stated, lack the technical capacity to implement such projects, resulting in inefficiencies and wastage.

For instance, the Federal Cooperative College, Oji River—originally a training institution—was assigned:

• ₦3 billion for utility vehicles for farmers and distributors,

• ₦1.5 billion for rural electrification in Rivers State,

• ₦1 billion for solar-powered streetlights in Enugu.

In response, BudgIT urged President Bola Tinubu to demonstrate firm leadership and initiate comprehensive reforms in the budgetary process to ensure alignment with Nigeria’s Medium-Term National Development Plan (2021–2025) and other pressing national priorities.