MonITNG Accuses Abuja Lawmakers of Misplaced Budget Priorities, Favoring Patronage Over Essential Services

Three federal lawmakers representing Abuja constituencies — Ireti Kingibe, Ajiya Abdulrahman and Joshua Chinedu Obika — have been criticized by MonITNG, a Civil Society Organisation, for allocating funds to streetlights and vehicles while underfunding critical education and healthcare needs.

In a statement issued Monday, the group compared budget items, noting that ₦150 million was allocated for solar streetlights and another ₦100 million to illuminate the Apo Legislators’ Quarters. An additional ₦100 million was earmarked for vehicles for traditional rulers and ₦75 million for distributing household items.

In stark contrast, allocations for essential services were significantly lower: ₦25 million was approved to supply 35 desktop computers to Orozo Secondary School, ₦50 million for educational grants to indigent students, and another ₦50 million for a one-off medical outreach.MonITNG described the health and education allocations as “tokens,” arguing that over ₦1.1 billion was funneled into “projects that serve as political patronage” instead of addressing urgent community needs.

According to the CSO, education, water, and health facilities in Abuja’s satellite communities remains in ruins, while nany schools are overcrowded because of inadequacy of classrooms. with dilapidated classrooms.

“Primary health centres lack drugs, equipment, and personnel. Entire communities in Abaji, Kwali, and Gwagwalada still struggle with unsafe drinking water… These are the urgent needs that should have guided budget nominations, but they were ignored,” MonITNG lamented.

The organization also flagged a procedural issue, noting that many projects were assigned to agencies outside their mandate, such as tertiary institutions in Plateau, Gombe, and Enugu states being tasked with implementing projects in the Federal Capital Territory.

This practice has been previously criticized by another CSO, BudgIT, which points to it as a significant issue alongside duplicated projects and a lack of transparency in the budgeting process.