2025 BUDGET: NEFGAD Petitions Tinubu Over N6.9trn Projects Inserted Into By NASS

…Demands MDAs Halt Projects Without Needs Assessment, Legal Backing

The Network for the Actualization of Social Growth and Viable Development (NEFGAD) has petitioned President Bola Tinubu over the alleged insertion of 11,122 projects worth ₦6.9 trillion into the 2025 Appropriation Act by the National Assembly.

The petition, obtained by THE WHISTLER and signed by NEFGAD’s Head of Office, Mr. Akingunola Omoniyil, warned that many of the projects lack verifiable needs assessments and fall outside the statutory mandates of the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) assigned to implement them.

Citing BudgIT, a civic tech organization advocating for budget transparency, NEFGAD stated that the insertions violate due process and derail national development goals.

Implementing/executing line items without legally mandatory needs assessment violates section 18 (a, b, c, d, e, f, and g) of the Public Procurement Act 2007, NEFGAD noted.

Omoniyii claimed that “The practice has unfortunately become recurrent; compromises national development priorities; undermines the principles of fiscal prudence and effective resource allocation; breeds duplication of functions; erodes mandates clarity with attendant policy incoherence and more disturbingly distorts the constitutional roles of the executive arm in budget preparation and implementation.”

The group emphasized that procurement planning without needs assessment contradicts the Public Procurement Act, which mandates entities to evaluate necessity, conduct market surveys, and define measurable indicators.

NEFGAD highlighted the benefits of proper needs assessments in procurement, stating they promote value for money, ensure agencies procure only what is necessary, align spending with national goals, and reduce project failures by identifying technical and operational requirements early. It also noted that stakeholder engagement helps align outcomes with real community needs.

The group condemned the alleged insertions made outside proper legislative scrutiny or planning frameworks.

“A documented needs assessment justifies procurement actions, making it easier to track decision-making processes and reducing the risks of corruption and political interference.

“Procurement that is aligned with actual development needs – such as roads, healthcare, education, and energy – helps prioritize projects that contribute directly to national development plans, promote poverty reduction, and drive economic growth.

“Any project/procurement item that does not satisfy needs/legally outlined planning and organizational criteria as prescribed in the Public Procurement Act 2007.

“Such as constituency projects inserted midway into the public procurement process by the National Assembly—is utterly defective and can only serve as a drain-pipe through which national resources flow into private wallets.”

NEFGAD warned that such practices undermine the executive’s constitutional role in budget preparation and cited Section 20(1) of the Procurement Act, which places procurement supervision on accounting officers such as permanent secretaries and directors-general.

The group called on Tinubu to “issue a directive warning MDAs against implementing projects that fall outside their statutory mandates or lack verifiable needs assessments and stakeholder input”.

In conclusion, NEFGAD threatened legal action if the petition was ignored.

“NEFGAD is preparing to initiate legal proceedings to challenge the implementation of any budgetary line item not backed by a documented needs assessment or that falls outside the constitutional mandate of the implementing Ministries, Departments and Agencies” Omoniyi revealed.

With the N6.9tn increase, Nigeria will spend N54.99tn in 2025.

A breakdown shows debt servicing of N14.32tn, capital expenditure of N23.96tn, recurrent expenditure of N13.64tn, and statutory transfers of N3.65tn.

2025 BUDGET: NEFGAD Petitions Tinubu Over N6.9trn Projects Inserted Into By NASS is first published on The Whistler Newspaper