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Storms are taking place during 2025 National Budget as a Civil Technology Organization, Budgit accuses the National Assembly of entering more than 11,000 questionable projects worth N6.93 trillion
The group said the move damaged fiscal responsibilities and integrity of national development planning.
However, parliament members have greatly denied making mistakes, emphasizing their constitutional authority to change the budget.
In a detailed statement released on Tuesday, Budgit claimed that the 2025 APROPRISIA Bill had been changed significantly by the legislature, with projects that were allegedly unimaginable by the executive branch. This insertion, said the organization, was contrary to the medium-term national development plan (2021-2025) and it seemed to prioritize narrow political interests rather than national needs.
“The insertion of more than 11,000 projects worth N6.93 trillion into the 2025 budget by the National Assembly is not only worrying, but also attacks on fiscal responsibilities,” said Gabriel Okeowo, Director of Budgit State.
“This trend is increasingly normalized, damaging the purpose of national budgeting, distorting development priorities and directing rare resources to the hands of political elites.”
According to Budgit, 238 Mega projects, each worth more than N5 billion and total N2.29 trillion, added to the budget with little or without justification. An additional 984 projects worth N1.71 trillion and 1,119 projects worth N641.38 billion were reportedly included without national priorities.
This organization notes that this insertion often serves political motives rather than public interests. Damage provided by Budgit revealed:
– 1,477 Street Light Projects worth N393.29 billion
– 538 Project of total drilling hole N114.53 billion
– 2,122 ICT project worth N505.79 billion
– N6.74 billion allocated for “Empowerment of Traditional Ruler”
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Especially, Budgit accused that the Ministry of Agriculture was the main target for this insertion, with 39% of all additional projects – a total of 4,371 – N1.72 trillion N1.72 trillion – generated its capital budget for almost eight times the N242.5 billion to N1.95 trillion.
The group also asked for attention from institutions such as Federal Cooperative College in the Oji River and the Nigeria road and road research institute, accusing parliament members of using it as a place for disposal for unrelated projects and political motivation.
“This is an example of an institution that operates outside of their mandate, manages projects that are not related to their legal functions, and add zero to national development,” Budgit said.
Although officially informing the president, budget office, and national assembly, Budgit said that no institution responded or was responsible for alleged anomalies.
“What’s more alarming is the silence of the presidency, the silence that, in facing extraordinary evidence, is the same as involvement,” the group said.
Budgit urged Bola President Ahmed Tinubu to emphasize stronger leadership in restoring transparency to the budget process and asking anti-corruption institutions such as EFCC and ICPC to investigate.
Responding quickly, both the Senate and the House of Representatives rejected the accusation as wrong and did not know about the legislative procedures.
The Chairperson of the Senate Committee for the Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti South), stated: “The 2025 APROPRISIA Bill is presented by the executive, interrogated, and ratified based on the exact amount presented.
“The angel of the darkness of falsehood and public disputes is only interested in stirring dissatisfaction with the National Assembly.”
On the DPR side, Clement Jimbo, Deputy Chairperson of the National Planning and Economic Development Committee, firmly rejected the accusation.
“I really do not agree with them (BUDGIT). This is fully based on ignorance. Executives cannot send the N50 billion budget, and we only approve N50 billion. This is practically impossible. If we do that, we will reduce ourselves into mere rubber stamps.”
Jimbo stressed that the National Assembly has an exclusive constitutional authority to change the national budget – including entering, adjusting, or deleting projects – based on national and regional needs assessments.
“The budget sent by the presidency to the National Assembly is called an estimate. This is not yet law until we pass it,” he said.
“If what is sent by the executive to us is not in line with the aspirations of the Nigerians, we can change it. That power is the exclusive right of the national assembly.”
However, Budgit calls for big reforms in the Nigerian budgeting process and urged the Attorney General Federation to seek constitutional interpretation from the Supreme Court regarding the strength of the APROPRITICE of the Legislative Agency.
“We really need transparency, constitutional clarity, and refund of evidence -based planning that places citizens, not politics, at the budget center,” Okeowo said.
“This is not only about mismanagement of financial, this is a matter of justice, justice and the future of governance responsible for Nigeria.”
Budgit also encourages citizens, civil society groups, and international development communities to suppress accountability and ensure that the national budget in the future serves public interests on private ambitions.
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