Tracka, a subsidiary of BudgIT, has raised concerns about the allocation of N732 billion to vague empowerment projects in Nigeria's 2024 budget, surpassing the N646.5 billion allocated for health projects. Ayomide Ladipo, Head of Tracka, highlighted these concerns in a statement on Sunday.
Vague and
Untrackable Projects
Tracka
emphasized that the nature of these empowerment projects makes them challenging
to track, suggesting they are often used to siphon public funds. The
organization argued that these funds would be better utilized to address
Nigeria’s health sector, which suffers from the world’s second-highest child
mortality rate.
Misallocation
and Misappropriation
The
report by Tracka revealed that the National Assembly inserted 7,447 projects
worth N2.24 trillion into the 2024 budget. Additionally, 2,558 projects valued
at N624 billion were allocated to agencies outside their mandate, such as the
Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the
Nigeria Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research (NiOMR).
Call for
Anti-Graft Investigation
Tracka
called on anti-graft agencies to investigate these budget anomalies to prevent
misappropriation and embezzlement. BudgIT’s Country Director, Gabriel Okeowo,
warned that assigning projects outside their mandate undermines monitoring and
evaluation, leading to wastage of taxpayers' money.
Example
Projects
- SMEDAN
allocated N5 billion for vehicle procurement for traditional rulers.
- NiOMR
allocated N2.32 billion to construct a road unrelated to its mandate.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the N28.7 trillion 2024 budget into law in January.
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