Pecohub The National Productivity Centre (NPC), one of Nigeria’s research-oriented agencies, has been funding projects outside its mandate and core responsibilities, FIJ has found.
FIJ found on Govspend, a platform that tracks government spending, that the agency has been spending millions of naira in funding solar installations, rehabilitation of boreholes, supply of classroom desks, road construction and rehabilitation, and provision of mini-buses for women in Kogi State, among others.
These funds, which were mostly disbursed in 2024, were for projects across different parts of the country. FIJ found that in February alone, it spent N865 million on these projects funded across 16 constituencies in the country.
On February 14, 2024, it paid N316 million for eight projects in Ogun, Kogi, Port Harcourt, Delta and others.
Moving further, the agency also made many such payments on February 19, 2024, for the promotion of rice production and the provision of toilets. Both payments amount to N183.2 million.
Four days later, the centre spent a whopping N189.6 million on reconstructing a community hall in Port Harcourt and on building nylon waste recycling equipment in Lagos.
Finally, in the same month, the centre spent N176.5 million supplying grinding machines, mini-buses and building culverts.
WHAT IS THE MANDATE OF THE PRODUCTIVITY CENTRE?
According to its website, the NPC was established by ACT CAP 70 LFN 2004 to stimulate and promote productivity in every Nigerian sector.
This is meant to make Nigeria a productive and competitive economy globally.
FIJ understands that because of this mandate, it should be spending its allocations on capacity-building workshops, research projects, policy development, training equipment and others.
Source: FIJ
