An analysis of the 2026 Appropriation Bill shows that at least 50 regulatory and oversight agencies are executing projects that fall outside their statutory mandates. In this report, BusinessDay Investigations exposes how these agencies, many of them high-profile national regulators legally created to supervise, license and enforce standards, were listed as executing authorities for projects that bear no connection to their core functions, raising concerns about mandate abuse and weak budget oversight. SODIQ OJURONGBE writes.
Before the sun rises over Adedeji Community in Ikirun, Osun State, life is already awake. Market women carry baskets of tomatoes and yams through the dusty paths. In the midst of this movement stands an empty abandoned structure, the health centre built to cater for thousands but left unfinished, overtaken by weeds and silence.
In December 2023, the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), a federal regulatory body created to oversee pharmacy practice, licensing, and professional standards, was listed in federal budget documents as the executing authority for the construction and equipping of a primary healthcare centre in this community.
Eighty-eight million naira contract was awarded to A3 Interbiz Link Service Limited, and funds were disbursed. But as of February 2026, no real work has begun, and no walls have risen above the barren site.
For residents like Comfort Adeyemi, the empty site is more than a failed promise, but a daily struggle.
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The 58-year-old mother of five lamented, “Last December, my granddaughter became very sick. There was nowhere to take her here; we had to walk almost three kilometres to another town before she could see a nurse.”
“They told us help was coming. They said we would have our own health centre. Now, when our children fall ill, all we can do is pray and or go to far places to access healthcare.”
The PCN, by law, is responsible for regulating pharmacy education, standards of practice, and compliance across Nigeria’s health system, not the building of hospitals or clinics. However, in the 2023/2024 Tracka report, the council appeared as the executing MDA for this capital project.
Despite funds being released, the site remains untouched, a daily reminder of broken promises in a community lacking basic healthcare.
The Ikirun case reflects a broader budgetary pattern where regulatory agencies are assigned to provide infrastructure that are unrelated to their mandates, which eventually becomes an abandoned or unfinished project.
An analysis of the 2026 Appropriation Bill by BusinessDay revealed that federal regulatory and oversight agencies legally established to monitor, regulate and enforce standards, were listed as executing authorities for more than N52 billion worth of capital projects that fall far outside their statutory mandates.
Rather than focusing on oversight and compliance, investigation by BusinessDay showed that these regulators are now positioned at the front lines of project delivery, executing community-level infrastructure and empowerment schemes traditionally handled by ministries responsible for works, housing, power, water resources and social development.
When regulators become builders
Buried within the 2026 Appropriation Bill is a pattern that emerges only after a detailed review of budget line items. Across dozens of regulatory, research and professional bodies, BusinessDay Investigations found that billions of naira were earmarked for projects that bear little or no resemblance to regulation.
These projects range from the distribution of grinding machines, sewing machines, motorcycles and tricycles to road construction, rural electrification, solar street lighting, boreholes, hostels, civic centres, ICT hubs and water schemes. Agencies with no legal mandate or technical capacity for infrastructure delivery have quietly been transformed into project-executing MDAs.
Among the agencies listed as executing authorities were the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA). These institutions were established to safeguard public health, enforce standards, regulate markets and ensure compliance, not to deliver community infrastructure.
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NAFDAC, whose mandate is limited to regulating food, drugs and medical products, was allocated about N1 billion for projects unrelated to regulatory oversight. Budget data reviewed by BusinessDay showed the agency listed as the executing authority for the supply of motorcycles, sewing machines, generators, and deep freezers across several senatorial districts, alongside solar street lighting, rural electrification projects, boreholes, and road works, functions traditionally handled by works, power, or water-related ministries.
Similarly, SON, established to enforce industrial and product standards, was allocated over N1.4 billion in capital projects in the 2026 budget. These include the distribution of tricycles and grinding machines, solar-powered street lighting, water supply schemes and road construction across multiple states, none of which fall within its statutory responsibility for standardisation and conformity assessment.
ARCON, whose legal role is to regulate advertising practice and content, was assigned approximately N620 million for projects covering road rehabilitation, solar street lighting, borehole construction and civic facilities, despite having no connection to advertising regulation or media oversight.
In the same vein, the FCCPC, created under the FCCPC Act 2018 to promote fair competition and protect consumers, was allocated about N540 million for road construction, water schemes and community empowerment programmes, projects outside its mandate of market regulation, enforcement and consumer education.
NEMSA, whose statutory role is to inspect and certify electrical installations for safety and compliance, was budgeted over N700 million for classroom construction, drainages, provision of medical equipment to health centres and other community projects, expanding its role from technical oversight to direct project execution.
The mandate drift extends beyond regulators into research and academic institutions. The Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO) was allocated about N850 million for electrification, solar street lighting, water supply schemes and health facilities, despite its core role being industrial research and product development. The Nigeria Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) and the Federal College of Land Resources Technology, Owerri, were similarly assigned a combined N900 million-plus in infrastructure projects unrelated to agricultural research or training.
Agencies focused on public communication were also affected. The National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) were jointly allocated over N1 billion to execute projects such as the supply of motorcycles, tricycles, generators and sewing machines, as well as the construction of town halls and access roads, roles far from their mandates of public enlightenment and news dissemination.
Other agencies, including the National Productivity Centre, the National Biotechnology Development Agency, the Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency, the Nigeria Press Council and the National Centre for Technology Management, were assigned capital projects ranging from solar street lighting to community water supply schemes.
Across the budget, BusinessDay Investigations observed that more than twenty regulatory and research institutions had allocations for solar street lighting alone, while procurement of motorcycles, tricycles, sewing machines and grinding machines appeared repeatedly across dozens of MDAs.
Interviews with budget analysts, former appropriation committee staff and public finance experts show that many of these projects did not originate from the executive’s draft budget, but were introduced during the National Assembly budget defence and harmonisation stages.
A Senate source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak publicly, said lawmakers often insert capital projects into the budgets of government agencies with weak oversight or low public visibility.
According to the source, these agencies are seen as easy channels for pushing constituency and sectoral projects through the budget process.
“Regulatory and research agencies are frequently targeted because they are less politically contentious than core service ministries and rarely push back against insertions tied to legislative approvals. Once embedded in the Appropriation Bill, these projects acquire legal backing, even when they fall outside the statutory mandates of the agencies assigned to execute them,” the source noted.
However, findings by BusinessDay show that a project’s inclusion in the budget does not automatically make its execution lawful.
Violate their establishing Acts
Under Nigeria’s constitutional and administrative framework, federal regulatory agencies are creatures of statute, established by Acts of the National Assembly that clearly define their mandates, powers and limits.
These mandates, BusinessDay gathered, do not include executing infrastructure works, civil projects, or community development functions. Despite this, the 2026 Appropriation Bill exposed a pattern where billions of naira were awarded to these regulators, transforming them into project delivery agencies without legal authority to do so.
A review of the 2026 Appropriation Bill alongside the enabling Acts of these agencies showed that many of the projects these regulators were budgeted to execute have no basis in their law of establishment.
NAFDAC, was established by the NAFDAC Act Cap N.1, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, which mandates the agency to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, chemicals and detergents. It does not authorise NAFDAC to build infrastructure, deliver community projects, distribute motorcycles or electrify rural communities, still, these appear in its 2026 capital allocations.
SON was established by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria Act No. 14, 2015, which empowers SON to set and enforce industrial and product standards, develop conformity assessment schemes, and improve measurement accuracy. The Act does not provide for SON to undertake roads, water supply schemes, solar street lighting or community empowerment projects, functions that appear in its 2026 budget.
ARCON exists under the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act, 2022, which establishes the council to regulate advertising practice, enforce ethical standards in marketing and protect consumers from misleading content. It does not grant ARCON powers related to civil works, water supply, electrification, or distribution of goods, yet these are listed under its capital vote for 2026.
FCCPC was created by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018, to promote fair competition and protect consumers by eliminating anti-competitive conduct and advocating for consumer rights. Its statutory duties focuses on market regulation and competition oversight, not infrastructure delivery or community services. However, its 2026 allocation includes road works, water schemes, and empowerment programmes that fall outside its statutory remit.
NEMSA was established under the Electricity Act, 2023(which repealed and consolidated the NEMSA Act 2015) to inspect, test and certify electrical installations and enforce technical electrical standards and safety across the power sector. It lacks the statutory authority to build or execute electrification projects, roads, boreholes, or other community infrastructure, despite being assigned these functions in the 2026 budget.
The Nigerian Press Council (NPC), established by the Nigerian Press Council Act No. 85 of 1992 (as amended by Act No. 60 of 1999), was created to uphold journalistic standards, monitor media compliance, handle complaints, conduct research, and protect journalists’ rights. Its mandate covers media regulation, but the 2026 budget assigned it roles like building facilities, putting it beyond its statutory scope.
Similarly, capital projects outside statutory mandates were assigned in the 2026 Appropriation Bill to the National Directorate of Employment Act (NDE), created under the National Directorate of Employment Act, and the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), established under the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.
Approved in budget, illegal in law
Legal experts said the growing practice of assigning capital projects to regulatory agencies whose enabling laws do not authorise such functions is legally indefensible, even when such projects are captured in the annual Appropriation Act.
They argued that when the legislature inserts execution of heavy projects into the budgets of regulatory agencies, it stretches their mandates beyond what the law permits and violates the doctrine of ultra vires, which holds that public institutions must act strictly within the powers granted to them by law.
Such actions, they insisted, undermine the rule of law and weaken institutional integrity.
Gbenga Adeoye, a chartered accountant, tax expert, arbitrator and international business lawyer, said regulatory agencies cannot lawfully execute projects outside the scope of their establishing statutes, regardless of budgetary approval.
Adeoye, who is the Founder and Principal Partner of Gbenga Adeoye & Co. (Chartered Accountants) and Founder of Closing Breeze (Canada) and Global Legal Partners (Nigeria), explained that while the Appropriation Act gives legal backing to public spending, it does not override the substantive law that creates and limits the powers of government agencies.
“The Appropriation Act is the result of a budget passed into law, and any spending outside it is unlawful. However, approval in the budget does not automatically expand the powers of an agency. Regulatory bodies remain bound by their enabling Acts, and they cannot lawfully perform functions not expressly or implicitly provided for,” he stressed.
According to Adeoye, assigning infrastructure delivery roles, such as road construction, health centres or water schemes, to purely regulatory bodies’ amounts to a violation of the doctrine of ultra vires, which restricts public institutions to actions within their legal authority.
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He warned that the practice also raises constitutional concerns, particularly around the separation of powers.
He noted, “When the legislature goes beyond appropriating funds and effectively dictates execution through agencies that lack both mandate and capacity, it creates a constitutional imbalance.”
From a governance standpoint, he said the legal consequences extend beyond technical breaches.
He added that the situation creates fertile ground for corruption.
He said, “Once agencies are forced to oversee projects outside their mandate because funds have been attached to them, their core regulatory functions suffer. Personnel are distracted, loyalties are divided, and regulatory effectiveness is weakened.
“When agencies lack the competence or systems to manage capital projects, it increases the risk of misappropriation, inflated contracts and abandoned projects.”
Meanwhile, BusinessDay Investigations found that assigning projects beyond agencies’ statutory mandates often contributes to delays, cost overruns, and abandonment.
Without the legal authority or technical capacity to execute infrastructure, it was discovered that many agencies struggle to deliver, leaving communities with unfinished roads, unbuilt health centres, and idle facilities.
Legacy of abandoned projects
Despite trillions of naira appropriated annually for public works, findings by BusinessDay Investigations showed that Nigeria has a long history of federal government projects abandoned before completion, leaving communities with unfinished infrastructure and wasted public funds.
These abandoned works span decades and sectors, from housing to power, roads to public facilities, and their prevalence underscores systemic weaknesses in planning, budgeting, and execution.
In fact, official and independent estimates revealed a staggering backlog of unfinished works. A Senate resolution in 2024 referenced a report commissioned in 2011 that identified 11,856 federal government projects abandoned since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, representing more than 60 percent of all projects initiated during that period and spanning all 36 states of the federation.
Another analysis by the Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN) put the total value of abandoned projects across the country at about N17 trillion, citing weak project planning, budgetary shortfalls, legal bottlenecks and institutional inefficiencies as core drivers of this long-standing problem.
Across regions, abandoned federal works form a common narrative of wasted opportunity. In the South-West, commercial and recreational facilities have long lain unfinished; in the South-East, official surveys identify thousands of unfinished projects despite billions of naira in allocations.
Also, a recent report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism tracking government contract awards in 2023 identified N8.7 billion worth of “Special Interest Projects” awarded by various MDAs to private contractors that were subsequently abandoned. These projects include road rehabilitation, dams, multipurpose infrastructure works, and small bridges, suggesting that abandonment remains a current and active challenge.
As part of efforts to address this crisis, the Senate in 2024 established a special panel to probe the 11,856 federal government abandoned projects. The aim was to classify and recommend actions for recovery and completion. Despite this, BusinessDay Investigations discovered that abandoned projects continue to litter the public landscape, from strategic industries to local communities.
Experts warned that the widespread abandonment of federal projects highlights the dangers of assigning regulatory agencies, designed for oversight, not execution, responsibility for capital projects beyond their mandates in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
They argued that when projects are budgeted but not completed, it is often because execution roles are diffuse, accountability is weak, and institutional capacity is mismatched to responsibilities.
Weakening accountability
Governance and public finance stakeholders said the scale of mandate violations observed in the 2026 Appropriation Bill reflects a dangerous normalisation of illegality in Nigeria’s budgeting process, with serious implications for accountability and value-for-money.
Kabir Adejumo, Senior Researcher at Good Governance Africa (GGA), said the assignment of off-mandate projects to regulatory agencies undermines both institutional integrity and public trust in the budget process.
According to Adejumo, regulatory agencies are established for oversight, enforcement and compliance, not for project execution, and turning them into de facto contractors distorts accountability structures.
He explained, “Regulatory agencies are designed for policy oversight, licensing and enforcement, not for building roads, health centres or rural infrastructure.
“When they are made to execute capital projects, accountability lines become blurred, procurement processes become harder to track, and financial oversight weakens.”
The anti-corruption advocate warned that the practice raises serious anti-corruption concerns.
He pointed to Section 15(5) of the Constitution, which obliges the state to abolish corrupt practices and abuse of power.
“When projects are deliberately routed through agencies that lack legal authority or technical capacity, it raises strong inferences of budget manipulation and rent-seeking.
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“It also undermines the safeguards built into the Public Procurement Act, which assumes that procuring entities have the institutional competence to deliver projects efficiently and transparently,” he said.
While mandate breaches are not entirely new, Adejumo said the 2026 budget represents a significant escalation.
He stated, “We have seen sporadic violations in previous budgets, but the concentration of capital projects in regulatory and oversight agencies marks a departure from established budgeting norms.
“Implementation has traditionally been vested in ministries with execution capacity. What we are seeing now is a growing normalisation of statutory breaches.
“Performance audits conducted by the Auditor-General for the Federation become less effective when agencies are executing projects they were never designed to manage. It becomes harder to trace expenditure to outcomes, and that fuels abandonment.”
Adejumo warned that if left unaddressed, the pattern sends a troubling signal about the future of public finance management in Nigeria.
To reverse the trend, he called for structural reforms within the budget process.
He recommended the introduction of a statutory compliance screening mechanism to ensure all budgetary allocations align with agencies’ enabling Acts before passage, as well as stricter enforcement of legislative rules to prevent off-mandate insertions during budget harmonisation.
He also urged civil society organisations to seek judicial review of unlawful allocations and called on the Auditor-General to issue adverse audit opinions on expenditures that violate statutory mandates.
Senate keeps mum
BusinessDay Investigations reached out to Yemi Adaramodu, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Senate, through multiple channels for comments but received no response as of the time this report was filed.
Calls placed to his telephone line were unanswered, and text messages as well as WhatsApp messages sent to the same number has not been acknowledged.
