By Teddy Nwanunobi
BudgIT service delivery monitoring platform, Tracka, has uncovered widespread cases of unexecuted, abandoned, and fraudulently delivered public projects across several states in Nigeria, amounting to about N24 billion.
An analysis of Tracka’s 2024/2025 report, titled ‘The People and Government Oversight: Connecting the Dots in Service Delivery,’ which was unveiled in February 2026, showed that five states recorded the highest proportions of projects that were not executed at all.
They include: Benue State ,40%, Ondo State ,32.4%, Kwara State ,30.4%, Akwa Ibom State ,27.3%, and Sokoto State ,25.6%.
According to the report, these states collectively account for over a quarter of all unexecuted projects tracked, representing 28.8% or N2.19 billion out of the total N7.60 billion tied to projects that received funds but were not implemented.
In contrast, Ebonyi State ,5.6%, Katsina State ,4.4%, Bauchi State ,3.9%, Niger State ,1.9%, and Enugu State ,1.1%, recorded the lowest proportions of unexecuted projects.
Regarding abandoned projects, the report identified Taraba State ,29.9%, Abia State ,20%, Nasarawa State ,10.5%, Adamawa State ,7.5%, and Ogun State ,7.1%, as the most affected.
It noted that collectively, these states account for 97.5% of all abandoned projects tracked, representing N7.8 billion out of the N8 billion tied to abandoned projects with funds already disbursed.
However, the report indicated that 17 states recorded no abandoned projects during the tracking period. The report also expressed concerns about fraudulently delivered projects, describing them as projects marked by serious irregularities.
According to the report, such irregularities include diversion of project funds, disbursements for projects completed in previous budget cycles without new implementation, and poorly executed or substandard project delivery.
Imo State ,17.4%, Lagos State ,12.7%, Kwara State ,11.8%, Abia State ,10.7%, and Ogun State ,8.3%, recorded the highest rates of such projects.
Together, these states account for 57.1% of fraudulently delivered projects, representing N8.61 billion out of the total N15.07 billion disbursed for projects in this category, the report stated.
“Between 2023 and 2024, Benue recorded a modest 6.9% increase in revenue, rising from N19.1 billion to N20.4 billion.
“Project execution outcomes, however, were deeply concerning. Only 22% of tracked projects were completed, while approximately 42% were abandoned, indicating severe weaknesses in implementation capacity and oversight.
“In the 2024 Federal Government budget, Benue was allocated 607 ERGP and ZIP projects valued at N191.33 billion, a 243.15 per cent increase over the 2023 allocation of N55.76 billion. Tracka tracked 100 projects worth N17.22 billion. Of these, 30 projects were completed, 40 had not commenced, and 30 were ongoing, with no fraudulent delivery recorded”, the report stated.
In Ondo State, the report also identified a widening gap between rising budget allocations and actual service delivery.
“In the 2024 federal budget, Ondo received N104.1 billion for 439 ERGP and ZIP projects, a 304.89 per cent increase from N25.7 billion in 2023 allocations. Of the 101 projects tracked (N32.6 billion), only 25 were completed, seven were abandoned, 38 were ongoing, and five were abandoned, 33 were not started. The figures reveal a widening gap between budget growth and actual service delivery”, it said.
