A shocking revelation by BudgIT Foundation (Tracker), a non-governmental organisation interested in tracking public budgets and promoting accountability in governance, has exposed a staggering N42.7 billion allocation to the Federal College of Horticulture, Dadin-Kowa, Gombe, Gombe State, approved by the National Assembly.
According to a statement posted by the organisation on its Facebook page on Monday, this amount represents an 11,500% increase from the initial proposal of N368 million by the institution.
It says that the massive budget inflation is not appropriate for a country struggling with loans and a high debt servicing ratio.
Shedding light on the revelation, the state officer of BudgIT Foundation, Barrister Martha Oyanta Daniel, said projects should be allocated to government organisations based on their mandates.
She revealed that the college proposed the installation of solar street lights and the purchase of Keke NAPEP tricycles with the funds calling for a probe into the allocation.
“As the 2025 budget development is on the way, I am appealing to committees of MDAs and the National Assembly to avoid any repeat of the 2024 budget mess.
“Projects should be allocated to agencies according to their mandates. I am calling on all Nigerians to become active citizens and not leave the tracking of projects to BudgIT Foundation (Tracka) alone.
For disbursement details, I oblige all Nigerians to use keywords to search www.govspend.ng.”, she said.
Our correspondent reports that the Federal College of Horticulture, Dadin-Kowa, Gombe, is a specialised institution focused on horticulture and agriculture.
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