More than 56,000 government projects remain uncompleted across Nigeria, according to Ben Akabueze, former Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation. He disclosed this on Monday at a policy dialogue in Abuja organised by the National Assembly's Joint Committees on National Planning and Economic Development. Akabueze attributed the backlog not to a lack of development plans but to weak implementation, despite the existence of a multi-layered planning system linking medium-term frameworks, sector strategies and annual budgets. He stated that these systems often operate in isolation, resulting in spending patterns that do not align with development outcomes.
Akabueze pointed to weak institutional coordination, revenue shortfalls and rising debt service obligations as key factors undermining budget performance, alongside procurement delays, inefficiencies and policy discontinuity. He noted that changes in administration frequently disrupt ongoing projects, leading to public spending that fails to yield completed projects or improved service delivery. To address this, he advocated for a results-based budgeting system that ties spending to measurable outcomes, along with the enactment of an Organic Budget Law. Other recommendations included improved project design and costing, enhanced revenue mobilisation, digitisation of financial management systems and procurement reforms.
Akabueze acknowledged improvements in the 2026 budget's capital expenditure, infrastructure and security allocations but cautioned against overreliance on oil revenue projections. He stressed the need for policy consistency, timely fund releases and sustained legislative oversight, as well as continuity in project execution across administrations.
Ben Akabueze highlights 56,000 uncompleted projects yet worked under administrations that presided over the same failures. If the systems were truly aligned during his tenure, why did they not prevent this scale of abandonment? Nigerians named in audit reports or linked to abandoned projects have faced no consequences. This pattern suggests accountability gaps benefit insiders while citizens bear the cost.
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