The 2026 Federal Budget has once again exposed one of the longstanding weaknesses in Nigeria's public finance system—the assignment of projects to government agencies that have no statutory responsibility for implementing them.

One of the most striking examples is the Nigerian Press Council, an agency established to promote professionalism, ethical standards and responsible journalism in Nigeria.

According to reports on the 2026 Appropriation Act, the Council received more than ₦600 million for projects such as schools and solar streetlights—projects that have little or nothing to do with its legal mandate.

The Nigerian Press Council was created to regulate professional standards in the media industry, receive complaints from the public, promote ethical journalism and contribute to the development of a responsible press. It was never established to construct schools, install streetlights or execute community infrastructure projects.

The issue is not whether schools or solar streetlights are important. They certainly are. The real question is why a media regulator should be responsible for delivering projects that properly belong to agencies with the technical expertise, statutory responsibility and institutional capacity to execute them.

When projects are scattered across unrelated ministries, departments and agencies, accountability suffers. It becomes difficult to determine who should be held responsible for project quality, value for money and long-term maintenance. It also weakens the specialised roles for which these agencies were originally established.

Budgeting should be driven by purpose, not convenience. Every government institution should concentrate on the responsibilities assigned to it by law. Ministries responsible for education should build schools. Agencies responsible for power should install electrical infrastructure. Regulators should regulate.

Nigeria cannot continue to operate a budgeting system where statutory mandates are routinely ignored. Such practices create opportunities for waste, duplication and poor oversight while distracting agencies from the work they were created to perform.

Public funds are too scarce to be spent through a system that blurs responsibility and weakens accountability.

A disciplined budget is not only about how much government spends. It is about ensuring that every agency spends public money on the work it was legally created to do.

Philip O. Orbih
Lawyer , Human Rights Consultant (USIDHR)
Porb Justice and Development Initiative (PJDI)