A stunning concentration of abandoned federal projects has been uncovered in just five states, exposing a massive breakdown in accountability after contractors were fully paid.
Recent data from BudgIT’s Tracka platform show that an alarming 97.5 percent of federally funded projects abandoned nationwide are located in Taraba, Abia, Nasarawa, Adamawa and Ogun states.
In financial terms, the projects are worth N7.8 billion out of the N8 billion tied to abandoned projects where government funds had already been released.
Taraba tops the list with 29.90 percent of abandoned projects, followed by Abia with 20 percent.
Nasarawa accounts for 10.53 percent, Adamawa 7.48 percent, while Ogun records 7.14 percent, according to Tracka’s state-by-state breakdown.
The revelations come from Tracka’s latest project-tracking exercise, which monitored capital project implementation under the 2024/2025 federal budget.
In total, 2,760 federal projects were tracked across 30 states to determine whether released funds translated into completed and functional infrastructure.
Despite the billions involved, the crisis is not nationwide, as seventeen states recorded zero abandoned projects during the tracking period, pointing to a disturbing concentration of failure in a handful of locations.
“This is no longer a funding problem,” said Osiyemi Joshua, head of Tracka at BudgIT. “These are projects where money has been released and contractors paid, yet nothing was delivered. That points clearly to failures after disbursement.”
The findings contrast with official reports s of capital budget performance.
The Federal Government has said capital budget implementation reached nearly 80 percent by September 2025 after two deadline extensions.
Tracka’s data suggest that such headline figures may be masking severe breakdowns at the state level.
Taraba and Abia alone account for almost half of all abandoned projects, with multiple cases where construction completely stalled after payment.
Tracka noted that the abandoned projects cut across several sectors, raising red flags over contractor supervision and monitoring by Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Unlike delayed projects, abandoned ones represent dead public investment with no clear path to recovery, draining scarce resources and leaving communities with crumbling or unfinished infrastructure.
Joshua warned that the cycle will persist without real consequences.
“Budget approval and payment are only the beginning. Without consequences for non-performance and stronger monitoring after funds are released, abandoned projects will continue to undermine public trust,” he said.
Tracka disclosed that it has engaged relevant MDAs and the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committees on several abandoned projects flagged in the report, pushing for tougher oversight to ensure federal capital spending delivers real infrastructure, not abandoned concrete.
