Between Grassroots Promise and Development Drainpipe

Conceived as a bridge between Abuja and the grassroots, constituency projects were expected to deliver visible dividends of democracy. Today, that bridge is riddled with leaks, funds flow, contracts are awarded, but impact is scarce, writes Festus Akanbi

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onceived as a mechanism to localise development and give citizens a tangible sense of representation, constituency projects were meant to bridge the distance between Abuja’s budgets and grassroots needs.

Two decades on, the evidence suggests a troubling inversion of that promise. Rather than serving as conduits for development, constituency projects have increasingly functioned as fiscal drains, absorbing public funds with limited, uneven, or absent outcomes.

The 2024/2025 Tracka report by BudgIT offers a data-driven lens on this paradox, revealing how allocations, disbursements, and delivery have diverged across Nigeria’s federal landscape. What emerges is not an anecdotal tale of failure but a systemic pattern in which public spending expands while public benefit thins out.

Numbers That Refuse to Translate into Impact

Tracka monitored 2,760 capital projects across 28 to 30 states within a 13-month cycle, just over 11 per cent of the 24,553 projects captured in national budgets. Yet even this limited sample tells a sobering story. Only 1,438 projects were completed. The rest were scattered across varying stages of dysfunction: 660 ongoing at a slow pace, 99 abandoned, 471 not executed at all, and 92 categorised as fraudulently delivered.

The financial implications are stark. N15.07 billion was disbursed for the 92 fraudulent projects alone, with N8.61 billion (57.1 per cent) concentrated in five states: Imo, Lagos, Kwara, Abia, and Ogun. In these cases, Tracka documented patterns ranging from the diversion of funds and the relocation of projects to double payments for projects completed in previous budget cycles, partial execution, and visibly substandard delivery.

“What the report confirms,” said Tracka’s Head, Joshua Osiyemi, “is what we have long known: allocation of funds does not guarantee delivery. Citizen oversight is not optional; it is essential.”

Where the Money Went, and What Didn’t Get Built

Beyond aggregate figures, Tracka’s sectoral tracking exposes how the drainpipe operates in practice. Following repeated national grid collapses in 2024, the platform examined dam-related projects across 13 states, with a total value of N432 million. Dams are strategic assets, directly linked to water management, irrigation, power generation, and food security. Yet none of the 16 tracked projects was completed. Four were abandoned, six crawled forward at a minimal pace, and six never commenced despite prior funding.

In primary healthcare, often cited as the closest interface between the state and the citizen, outcomes were similarly mixed. Of 47 revitalised PHCs tracked across 25 states, only 26 showed visible improvements. Twelve were under renovation, eight showed no evidence of intervention despite being listed as funded, and one was completely abandoned. In many communities, residents continued to travel long distances for basic care, navigating facilities plagued by inadequate staffing, weak sanitation, and obsolete equipment.

Tracka noted that limited disclosure of disbursement data made it difficult to determine whether delays stemmed from funding gaps, contractor inefficiency, or weak supervision, an opacity that, in itself, sustains failure.

The Niger Delta Exception, With Caveats

In the Niger Delta, federally funded projects fared marginally better. Of 48 projects tracked across Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, and Rivers States, 29 were completed and delivered measurable benefits. Yet even here, 13 projects had not commenced, four were ongoing, and two were untraceable despite confirmed funding. The region’s relatively stronger performance did not negate the underlying pattern: completion was the exception rather than the norm

Budgets are Not Numbers; They are Lives

For Oluseun Onigbinde, Executive Director of BudgIT, the problem lies in how budgets are treated, abstract figures divorced from lived realities.

“Budgets are not about numbers,” he said at the report’s launch in Abuja. “They are about roads, schools, hospitals, and people. Citizens need to understand that just because a project is in the budget does not mean it will happen.”

Onigbinde pointed to what he described as a paradox in state finances. Despite increased fiscal inflows in recent years, many states continue to struggle to provide basic infrastructure. A key reason, he argued, is the growing dependence on constituency projects, which often weaken accountability and allow state governments to abandon their core responsibilities.

“The real problem we see in most of our reports is the constituency project,” he said. “Somehow, it allows state governments to walk away from what they are supposed to do.”

Oversight Gaps and the Cost of Opacity

Anti-corruption data reinforces Tracka’s findings. In 2024, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) reported recovering N5.6 billion from fraudulent constituency projects linked to the 2019–2021 budget cycles. More than 50 contractors, consultants, and public officials were investigated, and approximately 200 bank accounts were frozen.

ICPC identified “soft” and empowerment projects, nearly half of those tracked, as major conduits for siphoning funds through truncated trainings, hoarded items, and outright non-delivery. While recoveries demonstrate the value of oversight, civil society groups argue that inconsistent prosecutions blunt deterrence.

“The ZIPs are all about corruption,” said Emmanuel Onwubiko, National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria. “It is shameful that lawmakers saddled with oversight can be implicated in the same illicit deals.”

Structural Fault Lines, Not Isolated Failures

What emerges from the data is not merely slow execution but a deeper breakdown in planning, transparency, and evaluation. Constituency projects are often fragmented, poorly integrated into national or state development plans, and weakly supervised. Disbursements occur without real-time public disclosure, while supervision relies on paperwork rather than physical verification.

Tracka warns that unless project locations, timelines, contractor details, and disbursement data are fully transparent, Nigeria risks repeating a cycle in which budgets expand but public benefit remains elusive.

When Citizens Step in, Outcomes Improve

Yet the report also documents a counter-narrative. Fifteen success stories, ranging from the revitalisation of Kaida Sabo PHC to erosion control in Rivers State and borehole projects in Akwa Ibom, were directly linked to citizen engagement. Communities that visited project sites, documented progress, and escalated discrepancies recorded better outcomes.

“If just five per cent of Nigerians engage in oversight,” Osiyemi noted, “monitoring could reach 50 per cent of projects nationwide, significantly reducing opportunities for corruption.”

A Warning, and an Invitation

Tracka’s 2024/2025 report ultimately frames constituency projects as a test of Nigeria’s governance architecture. Without accountability, they will continue to function as drainpipes—absorbing billions while delivering fragments. With transparency, planning, and citizen oversight, they could yet be reclaimed as tools of inclusive development.

As the report concludes, the choice is stark: public resources will either continue to leak quietly through the cracks of weak institutions or be forced, by data, scrutiny, and civic pressure, to translate into real, measurable impact for the communities they were meant to serve.