Contractors numbering 26 that collected N8.6 billion for various projects under the 2022 budget have either refused to initiate the projects or abandoned them.
A report by Tracka, a public expenditure monitoring system devised by BudgIT, found that N8.6 billion payments made to 26 contractors for 19 projects across nine states have either been abandoned or not done.
The report listed some of the projects to include the payment of N542 million to Abu-Halawa International Limited between December 2020 and April 2023 under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources for the Construction of Jare Earth Dam in Katsina. Nothing has been done on the site to date.
Also, while the payment had been made of N630 million to Babar Global Services Nigeria Ltd and Foundation Solid (NIG) LTD between July 2022 and September 2023 under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources for the Construction of the Ogbese Multi-Purpose Dam Project, Ekiti, the site has been abandoned since 2021.
The report found that the payment of N400 million to Laralek Ultimate Ltd in March 2023 under the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing for the Limited Rehabilitation of Opo Malu Road, Saki, Oyo State. The contractor for this site has never reported to the site to date.
These and other payments for non-executed projects were uncovered in the 2022 Project Tracking Report themed “Empowering Communities for Economic Growth.”
The report also gave an overview of the implementation of 2022 constituency and capital projects across 15 states and highlighted pertinent needs and abandoned projects across them.