BudgIT, on Monday, said its findings revealed that the National Assembly inserted 11,122 projects worth N6.93 trillion into the 2025 budget.
The civic tech group, known for its work in tracking government spending and promoting budget transparency, shared its analysis on X (formerly Twitter), warning that these budget additions raise serious questions about responsible governance and political motives.
“We have combed through the 2025 FG Budget, and you will be shocked at what we found,” the group posted.
The 2025 budget was originally presented by President Bola Tinubu at N49.7 trillion. After review, the National Assembly raised the amount to N54.2 trillion before eventually approving a final budget of N54.99 trillion. BudgIT’s findings suggest that a large part of this increase — nearly N7 trillion — stems from questionable project additions.
In a statement issued Tuesday, BudgIT’s country director, Gabriel Okeowo, said, “The insertion of over 11,000 projects worth N6.93 trillion into the 2025 budget by the National Assembly is not just alarming, it is an assault on fiscal responsibility.”
He noted that the added projects distort the original goals of the national budget and allow political interests to override actual development needs.
The group’s detailed analysis shows that 238 of the inserted projects are each valued at more than N5 billion, totaling N2.29 trillion. Another 984 projects amount to N1.71 trillion. Additionally, BudgIT flagged 1,119 projects ranging between N500 million and N1 billion — collectively worth over N641 billion — describing them as mainly political and lacking merit.
BudgIT also reported that 3,573 projects worth N653.19 billion were allocated to federal constituencies, while 1,972 projects valued at N444.04 billion went to senatorial districts.
Furthermore, the report notes 1,477 streetlight projects costing N393.29 billion, 2,122 ICT-related projects worth N505.79 billion, and 538 borehole projects at N114.53 billion. It also found that N6.74 billion was set aside for “empowerment of traditional rulers.”
A major concern raised by the group was that 39% of the inserted projects — about 4,371 entries — were pushed into the Ministry of Agriculture’s budget. This inflated the ministry’s capital budget from N242.5 billion to a massive N1.95 trillion.
Other ministries such as Budget and Economic Planning, and Science and Technology also saw significant boosts in their allocations due to similar insertions.
BudgIT called on President Tinubu to take urgent steps to reform Nigeria’s budgetary process. The group urged the president to align future budgets with the Medium-Term National Development Plan (2021–2025).
In addition, the group asked the Attorney General of the Federation to approach the courts for a constitutional interpretation of the National Assembly’s budgetary powers — particularly whether lawmakers can insert new capital projects without executive approval.
