•National Assembly Complex, Abuja
The National Assembly inserted 11,122 projects worth N6.93 trillion in the 2025 federal government (FG) budget, BudgIT, a civil society organisation promoting transparency and accountability, has revealed.
This figure represents 12.61% of the ₦54.99 trillion approved by Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the 2025 FG budget, reports The Guardian.
A further analysis of the insertions reveals that 238 projects valued above 5 billion each were inserted with little to no justification, while 984 projects worth N1.71 trillion and 1,119 projects worth between N600 million and N1 billion were inserted.
In a statement released this morning, the CSO described these insertions as indiscriminate, adding that they raise questions about their relevance and alignment with national priorities.
BudgIT also revealed some anomalies in the budget insertions, some of which include streetlights, boreholes, and ICT projects in various federal constituencies and senatorial districts.
“Categorically, some of the most glaring anomalies include 1,477 streetlight projects, worth N393.29 billion, 538 boreholes totalling N114.53 billion, 2,122 ICT projects valued at N505.79 billion and N6.74 billion earmarked for empowerment of traditional rulers,” the statement read in part.
Classification by ministries
These insertions were made into the budgets of federal ministries, departments and agencies. The CSO also analysed the budget by looking into the ministries that got the most insertions.
The ministries of agriculture, science and technology, and budget and economic planning recorded the highest number of insertions, with the ministry of agriculture getting approximately 39% of all insertions.
“Shockingly, 39% of all insertions—worth N1.72 trillion—were forced into the Ministry of Agriculture’s budget, inflating its capital allocation from N242.5 billion to N1.95 trillion.
“The ministries of science and technology and budget and economic planning also saw bloated allocations of N994.48 billion and N1. trillion respectively, from insertions alone.”
Allocating projects to wrong agencies
Another anomaly revealed by the CSO is the allocation of projects to agencies that do not have jurisdiction over such projects.
For instance, in 2024, the Federal College of Fisheries in New Bussa, Niger State, spent almost N1 billion from its budgetary allocations for that year on the purchase of vehicles, tricycles, and other projects beyond its jurisdiction for communities in Lagos, Ogun, and others.
This has been a recurring issue over the years and has reared its ugly head yet again in the 2025 budget.
BudgIT noted that lawmakers have targeted agencies like the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute in Lagos and the Federal Cooperative College in Oji River for dumping politically motivated projects.
“These agencies lack the technical capacity to execute such projects, leading to rampant underperformance and waste,” the CSO noted.
It cited the case of the Federal Cooperative College in Oji River, a tertiary education institution, getting allocations of N3 billion for the purchase of utility vehicles to support farmers and distribution agents, N1.5 billion for electrification in Rivers State, among other insertions.
According to the CSO, these budgets are not mere cases of financial mismanagement but are closely related to justice, equity and the future of accountable governance in the country.
It also appealed to Tinubu to exercise stronger leadership in reforming the budget process and appealed to Nigerians to demand these reforms from the government.
“We also call on citizens, the media, civil society organizations, and the development community to speak out and demand reforms.”
In 2024, BudgIT revealed that N624 billion was allocated to agencies for over 2,558 projects outside the agencies’ mandate in the 2024 federal government budget.
That same year, lawmakers called for more funds for the National Orientation Agency’s budget to enable the agency to perform its duties. This was despite insertions of N54,866,711 for solar streetlights in Ado-Ekiti/Irepodun Ifelodun Federal Constituency of Ekiti. These projects were outside the agency’s agency.
