N624 billion projects allocated to wrong ministries, says Tracka

A total of 2,558 projects in the 2024 budget are said to have been allocated to the wrong ministries, departments and agencies.

According to Tracka, a project of the non-governmental organisation BudgIT, the projects are worth N624 billion.

Tracka described the projects as misplaced allocations and said they were given to the ministries outside their mandate.

In an infographic on its X-handle, Tracka revealed that the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria has allocated N5 billion for the “purchase and distribution of official vehicles to selected traditional rulers in the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria.”

SMEDAN has also allocated 300 million naira for the “provision of medical assistance, consultation, medicines and spectacles in rural areas in Abak and Essien Udim communities, Akwa Ibom State.”

SMEDAN, as recorded in ERGP20245105, has also allocated N1.2 billion for the purchase of operational vehicles for security purposes in Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun States.

SMEDAN has also allocated N496 million for the construction and rehabilitation of rural roads in Urua Ibaya market, Ikot Inyang Afaha Obong in Akwa Ibom State.

According to Tracka, the Federal Ministry of Sports has allocated N400 million for “the provision of solar street lights in various communities within Imo North Senatorial District, Imo State.”

The sum of 80 million naira was also allocated for the construction of an ‘all-in-one solar powered borehole’ in Ikwu, Ohechiowa, Arochukwu Local Government Area, Abia State by the Nigerian Army.

The National Mathematical Centre has allocated the sum of N163 million for the provision of three-in-one solar street lights in various communities in Ezza North/Ishielu Federal Constituency of Ebonyi State.

Tracka head Ayomide Ladipo told Saturday PUNCH in an interview that the ministries under which the projects were cited had no mandate to implement them.

“We have categorised the projects as misallocations because they fall under the MDAs which do not have the mandate to implement them,” she said.

Commenting on Tracka’s report, SMEDAN’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Moshood Lawal, said all budgetary provisions that deviate from SMEDAN’s statutory allocations are constituency projects of the National Assembly members.

Lawal, in an interview with Saturday PUNCHsaid: “There is a lot of confusion and misinformation about the budget allocation to SMEDAN, so we always look for opportunities to put things right and provide the correct information.

“SMEDAN performs the statutory function of developing the micro, small and medium enterprises sector. Within the law of Nigeria, members of the National Assembly are privileged to have constituency projects that can be placed anywhere in the budget.

“That is why I said that what Tracka reported is wrong information; people should be able to separate the statutory allocation of SMEDAN from the constituency project.

“Most of these projects that Tracka cites are under the constituency project of the national legislators. They are not SMEDAN projects. The projects that are being implemented by SMEDAN also fall under that budget for verification.”

Urban Alert, a non-governmental organisation involved in civil engineering, responded to Lawal’s submission by saying it is unfair that some agencies have allocations for projects that are beyond their purview.

The organisation’s team leader, Anthony Adejuwon, told Saturday PUNCH in an interview: “It is unconscionable to see some agencies budgeting for projects beyond their reach. Zonal intervention projects have become a viable basis for budgeting.”