An analysis by Tracka, an open-source service delivery monitoring platform, has revealed that the federal government allocated 2,558 projects worth N628 billion to the wrong agencies in the 2024 budget.

This was disclosed in a statement released by Budgit, a Nigerian civil society organisation and parent body of Tracka, on Monday.

The report identified misplaced projects across different agencies, and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDAN) was particularly frequent.

For instance, the FG allocated N5 billion to SMEDAN to purchase and distribute official vehicles to selected traditional rulers in the six geo-political zones.

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SMEDAN was also allocated N1.2 billion for the purchase of operational vehicles across southwestern states and another N1 billion to provide medical outreach services in selected communities in Kaduna State.

Furthermore, the report highlighted how the FG allocated N732 billion for vague empowerment projects in the 2024 budget. It partly blamed the National Assembly for the vague budget lines and pointed out that the allocations could be problematic for fiscal transparency.

“Previously, empowerment projects were limited to constituency projects, but over the years, they have gradually seeped into capital projects through insertions by the National Assembly,” the report reads.

“In the 2024 federal government budget, there are 4,440 empowerment projects. Tracka maintains that empowerment projects are vague and challenging to track due to their nature. These projects are also used as a funnel to transfer public resources to party loyalists, resulting in the misuse of public funds.”

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Similarly, in December 2023, FIJ reported how the Ministry of Women Affairs allocated about N2.5 billion out of a N10 billion capital expenditure budget to buying refrigerators in the Senate President’s constituency. FIJ also reported that the National Assembly was thrown into turmoil over allegations of budget padding in March 2024.

Concluding its report, Tracka called on anti-graft agencies to probe the budgetary anomalies to prevent misappropriation and embezzlement.