A newly released report by the socio-economic platform Tracka, owned by BudGIT, has revealed that only 16.1% of projects undertaken by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs between September 2023 and September 2024 were completed.
This completion rate is the lowest among the ministries studied in the report.
Additionally, the ministry has the highest rate of abandoned projects, with a 25.81% abandonment rate. The rate of ongoing projects stands at 12.90%.
According to the report, the Universal Basic Education Commission had the highest completion rate among the surveyed ministries, with a rate of 78.95%.
This was followed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security at 68.18%, and the Nigeria Rural Electrification Agency with a completion rate of 65.63%.
Other agencies studied included the Federal Cooperative College at Orji River, which had a 60% completion rate; Border Communities Development Agency at 59.18%; Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute at 53.19%; Federal Road Maintenance Agency at 52.27%; Federal Ministry of Works at 42.35%, and Lower River Basin Development Authority at 20.69%
In terms of project abandonment, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency had the second highest abandonment rate at 20.45%, followed by the Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute at 14.89%; Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security at 13.64%; Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority at 10.34%; Federal Cooperative College, Orji River at 10%; Nigeria Rural Electrification Agency at 9.38%; Border Communities Development Agency at 8.16%, and the Federal Ministry of Works at 6.12%.
The report noted that a total of 1,404 different projects were tracked, with N19.81 billion worth of projects abandoned and N79.81 billion worth of projects not completed.
In a related development, concerns have been raised over time regarding the activities of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
SaharaReporters previously reported that in 2022, a civil society organization, the Social Development Integrated Centre (also known as Social Action), called on the then President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to release the forensic audit report of the NDDC.
The Programmes Coordinator of the group, Botti Isaac, made this call during a Virtual Public Dialogue on Promoting Effective Service Delivery in the Niger Delta: A Need to Reposition the NDDC for Accountability, held in Abuja.
Isaac stated that the impunity uncovered by the forensic audit led to significant public expectations and anxiety, with demands for the full report to be made public.
He noted that members of the public, including civil society partners, accountability advocates, and community members, have since the report’s submission to the President, called for the prosecution of those found culpable of misappropriating funds intended for the development of the Niger Delta region.
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