At least five major capital projects in Lagos State’s budget, collectively valued at over ₦3.7 billion, recorded a performance of less than 20 per cent.
Similarly, several projects posted zero execution, even as audit findings revealed ₦326.2 million in financial and administrative discrepancies across ministries and agencies.
The revelation is contained in the Lagos State Government 2024 Citizens’ Accountability Report published on September 30, 2025, Pinnacle Daily can report.
The report shows that critical projects in education, infrastructure and social inclusion failed to move beyond planning stages despite substantial allocations.
Among the worst-performing items was the renovation and upgrading of university buildings, including the Senate building, library and Faculty of Management Science.
The project had a final budget of ₦1.07 billion but recorded zero per cent performance, with no reported expenditure.
Similarly, stadium construction projects across the state, a citizen-nominated initiative with a ₦1.61 billion allocation, failed to take off.
Only ₦6.5 million was spent, translating to zero performance.
Other stalled projects include the construction of Ketu Vocational Centre (Phase II), budgeted at ₦109 million, and the emergency intervention for public schools statewide, which had ₦814.5 million allocated but recorded no implementation.
Even social inclusion programmes lagged as the procurement of assistive equipment for persons with disabilities achieved only 14 per cent performance, with ₦14.4 million spent out of ₦106.1 million.
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A further check on the report shows that on the financing side, loan inflows also underperformed significantly, with only 15 per cent of the projected ₦387.1 billion realised, potentially limiting capital execution.
Audit flags ministries over financial irregularities
The 2024 audit report raised 26 audit queries involving ₦326,175,392 across several ministries and agencies, some of which supervised the underperforming projects.
It indicated that the discrepancies span unaccounted payment vouchers, expenditure without proof of work, extra-budgetary personnel spending and procedural lapses.
The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, which oversees the zero-performance emergency schools intervention project, was issued two audit queries totalling ₦8.29 million for payment vouchers not accounted for.
Similarly, the Ministry of Tertiary Education, responsible for the ₦1.07 billion university renovation project that recorded no performance, had two queries amounting to ₦2.62 million for unaccounted and unreceipted payment vouchers.
Healthcare institutions were also flagged as Alimosho General Hospital recorded the largest single query in this category, with ₦98.1 million involving payment vouchers not accounted for.
Ajeromi General Hospital also faced queries totalling ₦21.13 million for payment vouchers without evidence of work completion.
The report further showed that payments of ₦1.93 million without proof of work were flagged at the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency, and ₦3.38 million at the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency.
In addition, several agencies exceeded approved personnel budgets.
The Civil Service Commission was queried for ₦80.48 million in extra-budgetary personnel spending, the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission for ₦59.6 million, and the Debt Management Office for ₦47.07 million.
The Lagos State Drivers’ Institute was also cited for procedural lapses involving ₦3.56 million in unstamped payment vouchers, indicating administrative control weaknesses.
Systemic bottlenecks, not revenue weakness
Despite the audit queries, the ₦326 million flagged represents a marginal fraction of the ₦90.2 billion cash expenditure analysed, suggesting that the issue may be less about systemic financial collapse and more about targeted weaknesses in documentation, procurement discipline and execution oversight.
The executive summary of the budget performance report attributes low capital delivery to broader project implementation challenges, procurement delays and bureaucratic bottlenecks, which slowed fund releases and contract execution.
However, the concentration of zero-performance projects in education and social infrastructure, alongside audit flags within supervising ministries, underscores the need for tighter financial controls and stronger monitoring frameworks.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X
