Nigeria’s proposed 2026 budget is facing fresh criticism after a civic monitoring group, Tracka, revealed that spending on luxury vehicles and empowerment programmes has climbed to nearly a trillion naira, an amount larger than what the Federal Government plans to spend on seven key ministries combined.

Tracka, a non-governmental organization that tracks public finance and government expenditure, conducted a detailed review of the budget documents submitted for the 2026 fiscal year and according to the group’s analysis, the federal government has earmarked N15.13 billion for the purchase of 39 sport utility vehicles, while N947.7 billion has been set aside for 2,579 empowerment projects scattered across the country.

When combined, the two items amount to N962.83 billion which exceeds the N960.27 billion allocated to seven ministries. The Ministry of Trade and Investment has N156.8 billion allocated to it, while that of Housing has N145.3 billion; Women Affairs, N169.39 billion; Justice, N150.7 billion, Livestock Development, N177.6 billion; Aviation and Aerospace Development, N87.3 billion and Petroleum, N73.1 billion.

Tracka said in its analysis that the disparity raises questions about the FG’s spending at a time when the country is contending with very pressing needs in housing, industry, and welfare. The group stated that more troubling is the lack of transparency surrounding the empowerment projects themselves because out of the 2,579 projects listed in the budget, only 70 have a location where implementation will take place. The remainder, Tracka said, cannot easily be tracked by citizens, verified by oversight institutions, or traced by taxpayers seeking to know who ultimately benefits from the funds.

The projects are spread across 184 different agencies which Tracka says, have no mandate to carry out empowerment schemes at all. Among those named as handling the largest allocations are an agency associated with a river basin authority, which is tied to 393 projects worth N127.1 billion; the National Agricultural Development Fund, managing just six projects worth N89.5 billion; an agency linked to a state development authority, overseeing 216 projects worth N88.1 billion; and another responsible for 94 projects worth N36.9 billion.

Tracka stated that such initiatives when properly implemented, can uplift livelihoods of vulnerable Nigerians but it cautioned that experience has repeatedly shown poorly structured empowerment schemes can become instruments of political patronage, rewarding party loyalists rather than delivering broad, measurable benefit to the wider public.

Tracka said: “Without clear locations, transparent criteria for selecting beneficiaries, and legally mandated agencies to implement them, the group warned, public trust in these programmes is likely to erode further.

The 2026 budget is projected to run a deficit of approximately 46 percent, meaning a portion of FG’s spending will need to be financed through borrowing. Tracka said that under such fiscal pressure, every naira spent by government should be tied to a project with measurable impact. (The Sun)

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