BudgIT Nigeria, a civic tech organisation, revealed that the National Assembly incorporated more than 11,000 projects valued at N6.93 trillion into the 2025 budget.

The organisation disclosed this in a statement published on its official X handle on Tuesday, describing the development as a “deeply entrenched culture of exploitation and abuse”, led by top-ranking members of the National Assembly.

“BudgIT, a prominent civic tech organisation promoting transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s public finance, has uncovered 11,122 projects valued at N6.93trn inserted by the National Assembly into the 2025 Federal Government budget.

“What began as isolated irregularities has, over the years, evolved into a deeply entrenched culture of exploitation and abuse, with the budget process now a playground for self-serving political interests, led by top-ranking members of the National Assembly,” the statement partly read.

On December 18, 2024, President Bola Tinubu submitted an Appropriation Bill of N49.74 trillion to the National Assembly for the 2025 fiscal year, representing an 80.96 percent increase over the initially proposed 2024 budget.

The National Assembly reviewed and approved the budget, which the President signed into law on February 28, 2025.

Subsequently, the President raised the budget to N54.2 trillion, but the Assembly further increased it to N54.99 trillion, resulting in a total cumulative increase of N5.29 trillion.

BudgIT’s statement revealed that out of the total 11,122 projects included in the budget, 238 projects—each valued at over N5 billion and collectively worth N2.29 trillion—were added with little to no justification. Additionally, 984 projects totaling N1.71 trillion, along with 1,119 projects costing between N500 million and N1 billion (amounting to N641.38 billion), were indiscriminately inserted.

The organisation further noted that 39 percent of these insertions—4,371 projects valued at N1.72 trillion—were “forced” into the Ministry of Agriculture’s budget, increasing its capital allocation from N242.5 billion to N1.95 trillion. Similarly, the Ministry of Science and Technology’s allocation rose from N994.98 billion to N1.1 trillion due to such insertions.

“Our analysis reveals that 238 projects valued above N5 billion each, with a cumulative value of N2.29 trillion, were inserted with little to no justification. 984 projects worth N1.71 trillion and 1,119 projects within the range of N500 million to N1 billion, totaling N641.38 billion, were indiscriminately inserted.

“A closer look shows that 3,573 projects worth N653.19 billion are assigned directly to federal constituencies and 1,972 projects worth N444.04 billion to senatorial districts.

“Shockingly 39% of all insertions – 4371 projects worth N1.72 trillion – were forced into the Ministry of Agriculture’s budget, inflating its capital allocation from N242.5 billion to N1.95 trillion and budget, and the Federal Ministry of Budget and Planning, also saw bloated allocations of N994.98 billion and N1.1 trillion respectively, from insertions alone.

“Even more concerning is the targeted misuse of agencies like the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (Lagos) and the Federal Cooperative College Oji River as dumping grounds for politically motivated projects.

“These agencies lack the technical capacity to execute such projects, leading to rampant underperformance and waste,” the statement read.

The organisation also highlighted some of the glaring anomalies in the budget to include 1,477 streetlight projects worth N393.29 billion, 538 boreholes totalling N114.53 billion, 2,122 ICT projects valued at N505.79 billion, and N6.74 billion earmarked for “empowerment of traditional rulers”.

BudgIT, therefore, called on the President to “exercise stronger executive leadership and reform the budgeting process to ensure alignment with the Medium-Term National Development Plan (2021-2025) and other national priorities.”

BudgIT also called on the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, to pursue a constitutional ruling from the courts clarifying the scope of the National Assembly’s appropriation powers—specifically regarding its authority to unilaterally insert new capital projects into the budget without the Executive’s approval.