Nigeria’s Budget Should Build Lives, Not Fund Luxury – ActionAid

By: Michael Mike

ActionAid Nigeria has called on the Federal Government and state governments to redirect public spending from what it described as “prestige projects” and excessive government luxuries to investments that directly improve the lives of Nigerians, saying the country’s limited resources should be deployed to sectors with the greatest social impact.

The organisation made the call on Sunday while reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s recent directive to state governors to stop constructing unnecessary flyovers in areas without traffic congestion and instead focus on projects that address the needs of citizens.

In a statement signed by its Country Director, Dr. Andrew Mamedu, ActionAid Nigeria said the President’s comments should spark a broader national debate on public finance and the need to prioritise people-centred development over projects driven by political visibility.

According to the organisation, while infrastructure remains important, Nigeria’s challenge lies in a pattern of public expenditure that often favours prestige over citizens’ welfare.

It noted that with millions of Nigerians grappling with economic hardship, every naira of public funds should deliver measurable benefits.

ActionAid therefore urged governments at all levels to review spending on projects and activities it considers to have limited public value, including unnecessary prestige projects, luxury acquisitions, oversized official delegations, excessive local and foreign travel, and discretionary expenditures that lack transparency and accountability.

The organisation cited figures from the Budget Office of the Federation showing that President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima are proposed to receive a combined ₦9.36 billion in the 2026 budget for local travel, foreign travel, food and refreshments.

It, however, observed that the allocation does not necessarily represent the total cost of official trips, noting that expenses for accompanying officials and operational support are often captured separately in the budgets of other government agencies.

ActionAid argued that reducing the proposed allocation by half would free about ₦4.68 billion, which could be redirected to critical public services.

It estimated that such savings could finance approximately 62 three-classroom school blocks, 208 solar-powered boreholes and five fully equipped primary healthcare centres, based on recently published government project costs.

Mamedu said Nigeria’s budget should reflect the country’s development priorities rather than government extravagance.

“This is not merely a question of reducing expenditure; it is about changing national priorities. Every unnecessary luxury purchase represents classrooms that were never built. Every unjustifiable trip represents medicines that never reached a primary healthcare centre.

“Every unaccounted security vote represents communities that continue to live in fear without knowing how public resources intended for their protection were spent. Every prestige project that fails to address citizens’ needs represents another missed opportunity to reduce poverty and inequality. Public budgets are moral documents. They reveal whose interests governments choose to protect,” he said.

The organisation maintained that Nigeria’s development challenge is not the absence of resources but the choices governments make in allocating them.

It called on federal and state governments to prioritise spending on quality education, primary healthcare, water and sanitation, food security, climate resilience and social protection.

ActionAid also urged authorities to reduce the cost of governance by cutting unnecessary official travel, luxury purchases and oversized government delegations, while strengthening transparency and accountability in discretionary public spending, including security-related expenditure without compromising national security.

The organisation further advocated that infrastructure projects should be selected based on evidence, community needs and measurable development outcomes rather than political considerations, while calling for greater citizen participation in budget planning, implementation and monitoring.

It stressed that the true measure of governance is not the number of monuments erected but the number of lives transformed through improved education, healthcare, safe water, decent livelihoods and opportunities for citizens.

Nigeria’s Budget Should Build Lives, Not Fund Luxury – ActionAid

Internal Rift Deepens in ISWAP as Leader Detains Four Shura Council Members Over Alleged Dissent

By: Zagazola Makama

A fresh wave of internal distrust has reportedly engulfed the leadership of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the Lake Chad Basin, following the arrest and detention of four senior members of the group’s influential Shura Council by its overall leader in the area, Ba Shuwa.

Zagazola Makama gathered from credible intelligence sources that the arrests were ordered after the group’s internal intelligence unit, known as the Amniyya, concluded a prolonged surveillance operation on the four senior figures.

According to the sources, the detained leaders were accused of repeatedly listening to what ISWAP leadership described as “subversive” audio messages believed to have originated from Nigerian military psychological operations targeting insurgents in the Lake Chad region.

Those arrested were identified as Mallam Burin, a widely respected Qaid (field commander) with considerable influence among fighters operating around the Lake Chad islands; Babakura Wanjam, a prominent ISWAP cleric known for providing ideological guidance to members; as well as Abu Huraira and Mallam Ari Kara, both senior members of the group’s Shura Council.

Security sources said the arrests have triggered anxiety and uncertainty within ISWAP’s ranks, particularly because those detained are regarded as trusted members of the organisation’s senior decision-making body.

The development is being viewed as one of the clearest signs yet of growing suspicion and internal fractures within the terrorist group’s leadership structure.

“The detention of influential commanders and religious figures by their own leader reflects an atmosphere of deep mistrust within the organisation. It suggests that Ba Shuwa is increasingly concerned about possible ideological drift, dissent or covert influence among even his closest associates,” a security source familiar with the development said.

The extremist organisations often become vulnerable when internal loyalty is questioned, as prolonged suspicion can undermine operational planning, weaken command cohesion and erode fighters’ confidence in their leadership.

The latest incident comes amid sustained military pressure by Nigerian and regional forces against ISWAP strongholds in the Lake Chad Basin, where intelligence-driven operations and psychological campaigns have continued to target the group’s command structure and rank-and-file members.

It was believed such sustained pressure has increasingly forced the group into defensive internal security measures, including tighter surveillance of its own members and frequent investigations into suspected disloyalty.

Sources disclosed that the current development is being closely monitored by security agencies, which consider the apparent leadership crisis an opportunity to further weaken the terrorist organisation through intelligence exploitation and psychological operations.

According to the sources, efforts are ongoing to establish the exact location where the four detained leaders are being held, assess the reaction of other ISWAP commanders, and monitor Ba Shuwa’s next moves.

Sources say that if the reported divisions continue to widen, they could contribute to reduced morale among fighters, disrupt command and control, encourage defections and potentially accelerate fragmentation within the organisation.

Internal Rift Deepens in ISWAP as Leader Detains Four Shura Council Members Over Alleged Dissent

Dauda Soroye Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic mourns as night marauders kill one student.

By: Our Reporter

Dauda Soroye ICT Polytechnic community was thrown into mourning recently when three students were said to have been shot by night marauders who visited the Eruku community of Itori Ogun state recently.

The deadly visit left one of the female students dead on the spot while two others were rushed to the federal medical center Abeokuta with bullet wounds for treatment.

This dastardly attack forced the students of the Polytechnic to cordon the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, on Tuesday to protest the killing of the female colleague name withheld during the sad armed robbery attack.

Eye witnesses hinted that the deceased was a Higher National Diploma (HND) two student in the Department of Marketing who was due to write her final examinations this week.

The institution located in the heart of Ewekoro Council area of ogun state has been witnessing similar robbery attacks, with students calling on the political and traditional leaders of the area to come to their aid by rising up to their plight.

The angry students had blocked their highway, causing traffic congestion thereby grounding commercial activities and making commuters and motorists stranded for hours.

For now another female student, whose ear was injured by bullets and a male colleague of theirs who was equally shot are now said to be receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Idi-Aba Abeokuta.

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) had through its Secretary-General, Oladimeji Uthman, maintained that the incident underscored the worsening security challenges confronting students across Ogun State and the country.

The umbrella student Union described the attack on the student hostel area as “heart-wrenching and a direct assault on the harbingers of the future of Nigeria’s educational system.

While extending condolences to the family of the deceased and the entire student community, the group urged Governor Dapo Abiodun to fortify schools in collaboration with security agencies, institutional managements, traditional rulers, student leaders and local governments.

Dauda Soroye Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic mourns as night marauders kill one student.