2025 budget: NEFGAD writes President Tinubu, BPP over N6.9trn projects

2025 budget: NEFGAD writes President Tinubu, BPP over N6.9trn projects

The Network for the Actualization of Social Growth and Viable Development (NEFGAD), a leading public procurement advocacy group in Nigeria, has alleged the insertion of over 11,000 projects without credible needs assessment, which it said fell outside the statutory mandates.

The group said the projects, valued at N6.9 trillion, were inserted into the 2025 Appropriation Act by the National Assembly.

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The organisation in a letter to President Bola Tinubu and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) expressed serious concerns over the insertion of the over 11,000 projects, many of which allegedly lacked credible needs assessment and fell outside the statutory mandates of the implementing agencies/ procuring entities.

According to the letter, the disclosure, originally highlighted by BudgIT, a civic tech organisation promoting transparency in public finance, exposed a worrying trend of budgetary insertions that “bypass due process, violate existing procurement laws, and distort national development priorities.”

In the letter signed by its country head of office, Mr Akingunola Omoniyi, NEFGAD referenced Section 18 (a–g) of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007, which mandates all procuring entities to conduct needs assessments and cost evaluations as the most fundamental aspect of public procurement planning by any entity.

The letter read: “Implementing projects without such critical element contravenes the law and undermines principles of fiscal prudence, accountability, and strategic planning.”

NEFGAD further argued that executing projects outside the establishment mandates of MDAs had equally become a recurring problem that fueled duplication, weakened institutional clarity, and led to policy incoherence

The organisation warned that any budgetary allocation or procurement line item not backed by legally required planning frameworks or outside an agency’s constitutional mandate is not only procedurally defective but also a potential drain-pipe for public funds.

The group also pointed out the inherent contradictions of the National Assembly undermining the very law it enacted by inserting constituency projects without following due process or involving the procurement planning committees of the relevant MDAs, as prescribed under Section 20 (1) of the Act.

In light of the above, NEFGAD called on President Tinubu and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to direct all MDAs to immediately desist from implementing any project that falls outside their statutory mandate, or that was inserted into the national budget without mandatory needs assessment.

NEFGAD reaffirmed its commitment to good governance and fiscal responsibility, and warned that it is prepared to initiate legal action to challenge the implementation of any project that contravenes the Public Procurement Act or the constitutional mandates of implementing agencies.

“Public funds must be spent based on real needs—not political convenience. We stand ready to partner with the Tinubu administration to ensure transparency and integrity in Nigeria’s budget implementation,” the statement insisted.