Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief

Tracka, BudgIT’s service delivery promotion platform has discovered that over 687 projects worth N112 billion were allocated to agencies outside their mandate, in the 2023 federal government budget.

Tracka is a platform which allows citizens to collaborate, track, and give feedback on public projects in their communities.

It also discovered that a total of N81.7 billion was allocated to the construction of solar street lights in the 2023 FG Capital and Constituency projects.

This is higher than the total allocation to schools and primary health centers, which gulp N77.9 billion and N3.1 billion, respectively, in the budget.

According to the organisation, in a statement issued in Abuja, “In a country plagued with critical issues, dwindling revenue, and a failing economy, the bogus allocation to streetlights is a gross misplacement of priority.

“Nigeria is also presently littered with non-functional and vandalized streetlights that have stopped working less than two years after their construction.”