Despite Increased Funding, Taraba Records Highest Number of Abandoned FG Projects

Taraba State has emerged as the state with the highest number of abandoned Federal Government projects in Nigeria, despite full disbursement of funds, according to a new report by BudgIT's civic accountability platform, Tracka.

 

The report revealed that although federal allocations to Taraba State increased significantly from ₦17.86 billion in 2023 to ₦56.1 billion in 2024, many projects funded with the allocations were either abandoned or poorly executed.

 

Taraba, with an estimated population of about 3.6 million people, had a total of 298 federal projects captured in the 2024 budget cycle. Out of 96 projects tracked by Tracka, only 46 were completed. The report further showed that 29 projects were abandoned, 12 were ongoing, eight were not executed at all, while one project was fraudulently delivered.

 

According to Tracka, abandoned projects across five states were valued at ₦7.8 billion out of a total ₦8 billion tied to projects for which funds had already been released.

 

The data placed Taraba at the top of the abandoned projects index with 29.90 per cent, followed by Abia State with 20 per cent, Nasarawa with 10.53 per cent, Adamawa with 7.48 per cent, and Ogun with 7.14 per cent. Seventeen states reportedly recorded no abandoned federal projects during the tracking period.

 

BudgIT said the findings highlight deep-rooted accountability and oversight failures in public project execution, rather than a shortage of financial resources.

 

Commenting on the report, Head of Tracka at BudgIT, Osiyemi Joshua, said effective monitoring and oversight remain critical to restoring public confidence in government spending.

 

The report noted that despite billions of naira being collected annually, budgets approved and contracts awarded, many government projects fail to deliver tangible benefits to citizens. It attributed the situation to weak monitoring mechanisms, poor contractor performance and limited consequences for non-delivery of projects.