A new report by Tracka, BudgIT’s civic accountability platform, has exposed a massive ₦24 billion failure in public project delivery, revealing that over 660 federally funded projects were either abandoned, unexecuted, or fraudulently handled despite billions in disbursements
The 2024/2025 Tracka report, titled “The People and Government Oversight: Connecting the Dots in Service Delivery,” has sent shockwaves through the Nigerian political landscape since its unveiling in February 2026. The report, which monitored 2,760 capital projects across 30 states, found that approximately ₦24 billion was tied to projects that failed to reach completion. Most alarming was the “unexecuted” category—projects that received funding but never commenced—where Benue (40%), Ondo (32.4%), and Kwara (30.4%) were identified as the worst performers. Collectively, the top five states in this category accounted for ₦2.19 billion in “ghost” works, while states like Enugu and Niger demonstrated significantly higher implementation rates, with unexecuted projects falling below 2%.
The crisis of “abandoned” projects appears even more geographically concentrated. According to the data, just five states—Taraba, Abia, Nasarawa, Adamawa, and Ogun—account for a staggering 97.5% of all abandoned projects tracked nationwide. This represents ₦7.8 billion in public funds that were disbursed to contractors who simply walked away from the sites. Taraba emerged as the “epicenter” of this trend, with nearly 30% of its tracked projects left in various states of decay. In sharp contrast, 17 states across the federation recorded zero abandoned projects during the 13-month tracking period, suggesting that the issue is driven more by localized oversight failures than a national lack of resources.
Perhaps most damaging to public trust is the rise of “fraudulently delivered” projects, which Tracka defines as works marked by the diversion of funds, substandard materials, or the billing of projects already completed in previous budget cycles. Imo State topped this list at 17.4%, followed closely by Lagos at 12.7%. These fraudulent activities accounted for ₦8.61 billion of the total ₦15.07 billion lost in this category. BudgIT’s Executive Director, Oluseun Onigbinde, warned that the “growing dependence on constituency projects” is weakening accountability, as these often lack clear locations or mandates, making them easy targets for embezzlement. The report concludes that without active citizen oversight and stricter consequences for non-performance, the cycle of expanding budgets with “elusive public benefits” will continue to define Nigerian governance.
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