Tracka, a platform that allows citizens to track the status of government projects in their communities, has uncovered whooping N8.6 billion payments to twenty-six contractors for 19 projects across nine states that have either been abandoned or not done.
In its 2022 Project Tracking Report themed: “Empowering Communities for Economic Growth,” Tracka, a subsidiary of BudgIT, listed some of these projects, their contractors and the questionable payments made for non- executed projects.
These includes the payment of N542 million to Abu-Halawa International Limited between December 2020 and April 2023 under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources for the Construction of Jare Earth Dam in Katsina. According to the report, nothing has been done on the site of the proposed dam to date.
The report also featured the payment of N630 million to Babar Global Services Nigeria Ltd and Foundation Solid (NIG) LTD between July 2022 and September 2023 under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources for the Construction of the Ogbese Multi-Purpose Dam Project, Ekiti, a project that has been abandoned since 2021. Also listed was the payment of N400 million to Laralek Ultimate Ltd in March 2023 under the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing for the Limited Rehabilitation of Opo Malu Road, Saki, Oyo State even when the contractor has never reported to the site to date.
Tracka reviewed documentary findings from the 3,691 projects monitored across 22 states in Nigeria between August 2022 and August 2023. Of these projects, 2,037 were completed, 1,012 are ongoing, 533 were unexecuted, and 109 have been abandoned as of the time of filing this report.
The report also gave an overview of the implementation of 2022 Constituency and Capital projects across 15 states and highlights pertinent needs and abandoned projects across them.
Under Capital Projects, Kebbi had the highest completion rate at 76 per cent, Oyo had the lowest at 25 per cent and Taraba had the highest rate of abandoned projects at 27 per cent.
In terms of Constituency Projects, Bauchi had the highest completion rate with 97 per cent, Oyo had the lowest with 28 per cent while Nasarawa, with 23 per cent had the highest rate of abandoned projects.
Country Director, BudgIT, Gabriel Okeowo, expressed displeasure over the non-execution of these projects by the contractors.
“Despite the clamour for increased allocations to capital expenditure by the Federal Government and subnationals( states), our tracking exercise has revealed that capital projects are the largest conduits of embezzlement and misappropriation. Lack of effective oversight on the part of the legislators and Ministries, Department, and Agencies has largely contributed to the high level of poor project execution and, in some cases, outright abandonment of projects,” Okeowo said.
He said that governments at all levels needed to take public project execution more seriously, considering the huge infrastructure gaps Nigeria has been grappling with as a nation.
“We also hope that the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will find a way to block these loopholes and leakages; if not, our expenditure will amount to pouring water into a basket,” he said.
Okeowo called on the anti-graft agencies, namely the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission( ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) to probe these misappropriations in the 2022 budget expenditures and prosecute erring contractors. He also charged elected representatives at the National Assembly to pay attention to the needs of their constituents by checking out the abandoned projects highlighted in the report, as they serve as pointers to where public funds should be directed to ensure efficient use of scarce public resources.
