Multi-Billion-Naira Federal Projects for Anambra Assigned to Agencies Without Mandate

Billions of naira earmarked for critical infrastructure projects in Anambra State under the 2025 Federal Government Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) have been packed in the budgets of federal agencies that have neither the statutory mandate nor the technical capacity to execute them.

A civic monitoring platform MonitNG, disclosed this in a report released on Wednesday, under the banner “NO MANDATE,” critical projects meant for Anambra communities have again been assigned to research institutes and training colleges whose legal statutes point elsewhere. 

The result, as noted in the report, is a “budget line that looks funded and a community that receives nothing.”

The figures are specific and deeply troubling. According to the 2025 FG ERGP lines supplied and analyzed by MonitNG, ERGP20254117 provides N3 billion for roads in selected Anambra communities, in 500-metre lots, under the Federal Co-operative College, Oji River. A cooperative college, however, trains cooperators, not road engineers.

In another glaring case of misplaced priority, ERGP20261208 provides N3 billion for school furniture and finishes, in multiple lots, under the Institute of Agricultural Research, Zaria. A horticultural institute researches crops, not procures and installs classroom furniture.

The mismatched allocations continue across several line items:

“ERGP20262844 provides N1 billion for solar street lights in Old Aguata and other Anambra communities under the College of Veterinary and Medical Laboratory Technology, Vom. The same college holds ERGP20262846, another N1 billion for roads in Umuchi.

“ERGP20262706 provides N1 billion for asphalt rural roads and drainages in Anambra and Ogun under the Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu.

“ERGP20254123 provides N800 million for empowerment items for youths in rural Anambra under the National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan.

“ERGP20260292 provides N700 million for 14-bulb solar street lights in Onitsha, Ogbaru and Omambala under the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, Lagos.

“ERGP20254120 provides N700 million for grains in Njikoka/Anaocha under the Nigerian Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research.”

The exposé has triggered a call for immediate accountability. “Lawmakers who nominated these lines should explain the choice of agency,” the report demanded. “The Budget Office should not release funds to bodies that cannot carry out the work. The named ministries should state, in writing, who will design, supervise and certify each project.”

Anambra residents are now being urged to demand answers from their representatives. “If the agency on the budget line cannot build the road, light the street or equip the school, who answers when nothing is delivered? Track the codes. Visit the sites. Demand a name,” the report concluded.