About 78 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government have earmarked nearly N400 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act for the construction and rehabilitation of community halls, mosques, traditional rulers’ palaces, village market squares and civic centres, raising fresh concerns over public spending priorities.
An analysis of the 2026 budget shows that more than half of the allocation is dedicated to projects widely regarded as non-developmental, including the distribution of grains, motorcycles and tricycles, sponsorship of community thrift societies, and the construction of museums and mini-stadia.
The allocations span dozens of federal institutions whose statutory mandates appear unrelated to many of the projects captured in their budgets.
Among the affected agencies are the Ministry of Defence Headquarters, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Defence Academy, Technical Aid Corps, Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, National Building and Road Research Institute, National Productivity Centre, Industrial Training Fund, Federal Cooperative College, Kaduna, and several agricultural and research institutions.
Analysts have criticised the spending pattern, arguing that scarce public funds are being diverted from critical national priorities such as healthcare, education, security, roads and power infrastructure into projects with limited developmental value.
They warned that allocating hundreds of billions of naira to fragmented constituency-style projects weakens fiscal discipline and reduces the government’s capacity to deliver meaningful public services.
Experts also questioned the inclusion of projects that bear little or no relationship to the mandates of several agencies.
For instance, the National Building and Road Research Institute in Lagos is expected to execute projects including the construction of village halls in Anambra State, an international market in Jigawa State, traditional rulers’ palaces in Rivers and Kogi states, market stalls in Borno, a multipurpose hall in Kaduna, and the renovation of mosques across Kebbi, Ekiti and Jigawa states—projects valued at over N4 billion.
Similarly, the National Productivity Centre’s budget includes funding for support to Ijaw musicians, the construction of an Emir’s palace in Yobe State, refurbishment of traditional rulers’ palaces in Ogun State, and the construction of an abattoir in Gombe State.
The National Mathematical Centre is also expected to finance the construction of a Sociology Department building at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, a project many observers say falls outside the institution’s statutory responsibilities.
A consultant economist and former central banker, Chukwunonso Ihuma, blamed the National Assembly for the proliferation of such projects, alleging that lawmakers often insert items into budgets during the appropriation process.
“All these are down to poor oversight by the National Assembly. In most cases, they are even the ones inserting, smuggling and padding these budgets,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria should return to a zero-based budgeting system, where every expenditure must be justified from scratch rather than rolled over from previous budgets.
“The Director-General of the Budget Office should have the authority to discard any item that has no relevance to Nigerians.
“Markets are naturally meant to be handled by states and local governments, while traditional rulers should maintain their palaces. Civic centres are projects for community unions. If I were the president, I would allocate funds strictly based on each MDA’s statutory responsibilities,” Ihuma stated.
President Bola Tinubu signed the N68.32 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill into law in April and also approved an extension of the 2025 budget implementation from March 31 to June 30, 2026.
The Senate subsequently extended the implementation of the capital component of the 2025 budget by another three months, shifting the deadline to September 30, 2026, to prevent project abandonment and ensure full utilisation of released funds.
The continued implementation of the previous year’s budget well into 2026 has further fuelled concerns over Nigeria’s budget execution capacity.
The Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) said successful implementation of the 2025 budget would require stronger fiscal and monetary coordination, improved revenue mobilisation and structural reforms to address inflation, exchange rate volatility and social inequality.
Also commenting, the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, said the Federal Government continues to face fiscal pressures following the discontinuation of the Ways and Means financing arrangement previously used to fund budget deficits.
He noted that the administration is struggling to bridge revenue gaps while implementing ambitious expenditure plans.
Analysts have also questioned the assumptions underpinning the 2026 budget, describing them as overly optimistic.
The budget projects N36.87 trillion in revenue, with the balance expected to be financed through borrowing. It assumes an oil price benchmark of $75 per barrel, crude oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day, GDP growth of between 4.28 and 4.68 per cent, and debt servicing obligations of N15.81 trillion.
“We have to make a change and turn a new leaf. We did not have realistic projections in the budget, so the disparity is getting too big,” Yusuf said.
“Perhaps we should begin to rely on experts to prepare budgets that match our implementation capacity. We are still struggling with the 2025 budget while already discussing the 2026 budget. Poor budgeting erodes stakeholder confidence, and many of these projects are constitutionally the responsibility of states and local governments.”
Media strategist and former adviser to Vice President Namadi Sambo, Umar Sani, also observed that many controversial projects inserted into budgets are never eventually implemented by the executive.
“So many things were brought to Presidents Buhari and Jonathan, but they refused to sign them. Good leadership sometimes requires rejecting budgets overloaded with insignificant projects,” he said.