Hon Jimbo, a member of the House of Representatives, has exposed a recurring practice in budget preparation where items meant to last several years are repeatedly included in annual capital budgets. According to Jimbo, durable projects such as buildings and infrastructure are reinserted into successive budgets despite having been completed or funded previously. He revealed that figures are often inserted arbitrarily, with technical experts later directed to adjust cost estimates to match the pre-filled amounts. This, he said, undermines planning integrity and enables financial misappropriation. Jimbo made the remarks during a political event in Abuja, where he also praised Senate President Godswill Akpabio for his leadership style.
The lawmaker described the Senate President as a source of inspiration, particularly for his strategic influence within the ruling party. He identified party unity as the All Progressives Congress's strongest advantage ahead of the 2027 elections. No specific instances or figures were cited in relation to the alleged budget fraud.
That a sitting lawmaker feels compelled to publicly name budget padding as a standard practice suggests the system is not broken—it is operating exactly as designed. Hon Jimbo's admission that professionals are asked to retrofit estimates to fit preloaded figures exposes a façade of technical rigor in national planning. If line items for multi-year assets keep reappearing, then oversight bodies either cannot act or are complicit. For Nigerians, this means public funds are being cycled through phantom projects while real needs go unfunded.
