Controversy arises in Nigeria over 50 million naira — Premium Times Nigeria
A controversy has arisen in Nigeria’s Delta State over 50 million naira allocated in the 2024 budget for the construction of a magistrates’ court in Erho-Abraka. The project was marked as 100% completed in the state’s fourth-quarter budget implementation report, but the state judiciary said the funds had not been accessed and no contract for the work had been awarded, Premium Times Nigeria reports.
The judiciary’s position
A letter dated June 8, 2026, signed by Chief Registrar Eloho Okodie-Onoriode on behalf of Delta State Chief Judge Tessy Diai, confirmed that 50 million naira was allocated under the state’s 2024 Appropriation Law. However, the letter stated that the project had not been handed over to a contractor.
According to the judiciary, no payment documents, fund-release applications, or withdrawal requests were processed for the allocation. It said the entire sum remained unutilized throughout the 2024 financial year and afterward, while the appropriation lapsed because no contract was awarded in 2024 or later.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Budget reports and the condition of the site
The approved 2024 Delta State budget allocated 50 million naira for the construction of a magistrates’ court in Erho-Abraka under code 13100123031100. The budget implementation reports for the first, second, and third quarters showed the project’s completion rate at 0%, while the fourth-quarter report listed it at 100%.
Tracka, a platform that monitors public projects, visited the court premises and reported that it found no signs of construction or renovation corresponding to the project. According to the platform, court staff interviewed were unaware of it, while the existing benches in the courtroom had been provided by the local community. Tracka also reported that parts of the building’s roof were coming off and that much of the premises was overgrown with bushes.
Premium Times Nigeria also did not find the project on Delta State’s public procurement portal: it was absent from the list of 132 completed, 171 ongoing, and 127 new projects. The publication notes that it did not find a separate capital expenditure line in the 2024 financial documents released by auditors that would independently explain the stated implementation of the project.
