No allocation for 700-km Lagos Calabar coastal Highway in 2025 budget, says BudgIT

BudgIT, has raised concerns over irregularities found in the 2025 Budget as made available on the website of the Budget Office, pointing out that, allocation was not made for the Lagos Calabar Coastal Road, a project the Bola Ahmed Tinubu government embarked on last year.

Nigeria’s civic-tech organizsaion, noted that, the breakdown of the allocations to some of the Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs), commissions, and councils had been omitted in the budget that was submitted to the National Assembly.

BudgIT, in a statement signed by its Communications Associate, Nancy Odimegwu, expressed worry over the ‘fact that the 2025 budget notably omits funding for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, a capital-intensive infrastructure project.’

Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a 700-kilometer project designed to span nine states, aimed at enhancing connectivity and driving economic growth along Nigeria’s coastline, with an initial budget of over $11 billion. However, the minister of Works, David Umahi had recently revealed plans by the government to reduce costs and scale down the lanes from 10 to six.

According to BudgIT, the omission of allocation for the highway implies that if funding for this project materialises, “it will likely necessitate reallocating funds from other critical projects, potentially hindering their implementation and impacting the budget’s credibility.

On missing breakdown of budget of MDAs, BudgIT said, it had in the past “identified several budgetary insertions made by the National Assembly that deviate from the federal government’s constitutional mandate and priorities and are assigned to MDAs that have neither the capacity nor the mandate to implement the inserted projects.

“In 2021, BudgIT observed that 5,601 capital projects were added to the

Appropriation Bill during the review process by the National Assembly. In 2022, it increased to 6,462 projects across 37 Mother Ministries and 340 MDAs, while in 2024, 7,447 insertions amounting to a staggering N2.24 trillion were found in the budget.

“Also, we have observed that the 2025 proposed budget breakdown submitted to the National Assembly for review and approval and published on the Budget Office website omits the breakdown of some MDAs, commissions, and councils, such as the National Judicial Council (N341.63 billion), and TETFUND (N940.5 billion). The budgets of over 60 government-owned enterprises (GOEs), including the Nigeria Ports Authority, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), etc., were conspicuously absent from the 2025 Proposed Budget.

“Furthermore, a combined N2.49 trillion has been allocated to five regional development commissions (Niger Delta: N776.53 billion; South West: N498.40 billion; North East: N290.99 billion; North West: N585.93 billion; and South East: N341.27 billion) under the umbrella of personnel costs. This approach obscures the true nature of these commissions’ operational expenses.

“For context, the Ministry of Interior, responsible for overseeing the Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Correctional Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Fire Service, and their governing board, has a significantly lower recurrent non-debt expenditure allocation of N648.84 billion. This amount covers personnel and overhead costs for the entire ministry and its agencies. Lumping development commission budgets under personnel costs raises concerns about transparency and accountability. It hinders proper scrutiny of how these funds are utilised and whether they effectively achieve their intended development objectives.”

BudgIT also raised eyebrows on spending patterns of the government which it says is contrary to its plans to cut cost of governance. “It is worth noting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent pronouncement regarding the retirement package of military generals, which includes the provision of a bulletproof SUV, fully paid foreign medical treatment, $20,000 as estacode for medical trips, and payments for domestic help, contradicts his previous commitments to reduce the cost of governance and welfare packages to top-ranked public officials and civil servants. Such provisions not only inflate the budget and widen the fiscal deficit but may also demoralise lower-ranking military personnel, who lack adequate health insurance and retirement benefits despite their higher exposure to combat risks.”

It therefore called on members of the legislative arm of government to “prioritise national interest over personal or parochial considerations and ensure that the approved budget stimulates economic activities and macroeconomic stability, allocates resources to foster economic growth and development, equitably distributes resources to reduce poverty and inequality, and caters to the most vulnerable Nigerians.”

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