REVEALED: Only 16% of projects undertaken by Niger Delta Ministry completed, over 25% abandoned –Report
Maureen Aguta
A newly released report by the socio-economic platform Tracka, owned by BudGIT, has revealed that only 16.1 per cent 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 per cent abandonment rate. The rate of ongoing projects stands at 12.90 per cent.
According to the report, the Universal Basic Education Commission had the highest completion rate among the surveyed ministries, with a rate of 78.95 per cent
This was followed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security at 68.18 per cent, and the Nigeria Rural Electrification Agency with a completion rate of 65.63 per cent.
Other agencies studied included the Federal Cooperative College at Orji River, which had a 60 per cent completion rate; Border Communities Development Agency at 59.18 per cent; Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute at 53.19 per cent; Federal Road Maintenance Agency at 52.27 per cent; Federal Ministry of Works at 42.35 per cent, and Lower River Basin Development Authority at 20.69 per cent.
In terms of project abandonment, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency had the second highest abandonment rate at 20.45 per cent, followed by the Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute at 14.89 per cent; Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security at 13.64 per cent; Lower Benue River Basin Development Authority at 10.34 per cent; Federal Cooperative College, Orji River at 10 per cent; Nigeria Rural Electrification Agency at 9.38 per cent; Border Communities Development Agency at 8.16 per cent, and the Federal Ministry of Works at 6.12 per cent.
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).
It was 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.
