— Rejects Kalu’s N780m church programme explanation
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has condemned the allocation of N140
million by the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development for the construction and rehabilitation of emir palaces and mosques in Kaduna State, describing it as a “grotesque distortion of national priorities” and an unacceptable deployment of scarce public resources.
The rights group, in a strongly worded statement on Wednesday by its National Coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko demanded the immediate withdrawal and comprehensive review of the allocation, questioning why a ministry created to develop Nigeria’s livestock sector and strengthen food security would be financing projects relating to religious and traditional institutions.
HURIWA said the allocation was coming at a particularly troubling time when Nigerians are grappling with hunger, unemployment, insecurity, poverty and declining living standards, while livestock farmers face inadequate veterinary services, insecurity, poor infrastructure, limited access to finance and weak market opportunities.
The organisation said the controversy raises fundamental questions about ministerial responsibility, budgetary discipline, transparency and the integrity of Nigeria’s appropriation process.
HURIWA said the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development has a clearly defined mandate covering livestock production, animal husbandry, pastoral development, dairy development, livestock value chains and national food security.
It therefore questioned the rationale for using the ministry’s budget to construct or rehabilitate emir palaces and mosques.
The organisation demanded that the ministry explain the legal and administrative basis for the allocation and demonstrate the direct connection between the projects and its statutory mandate.
HURIWA said Nigerians deserve to know who initiated the projects, who requested them, who approved them, the intended beneficiaries, the contractors involved and the precise developmental objectives they are expected to achieve.
It consequently demanded the immediate publication of the project proposals, implementation plans, procurement documents, contractors’ details, beneficiaries, funding arrangements and all approvals relating to the N140 million allocation.
The group also called on the National Assembly, Budget Office of the Federation, Auditor-General for the Federation and relevant anti-corruption agencies to scrutinise the expenditure and determine whether it complies with applicable appropriation, procurement and public-finance laws.
HURIWA also rejected the explanation offered by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, concerning the controversial budgetary provision initially described as N1 billion for church musical instruments in Bende Federal Constituency of Abia State.
Kalu’s office reportedly explained that, after VAT and other deductions, the provision amounts to about N780 million and is intended as a Youth Re-orientation and Social Support Programme to be implemented through faith-based organisations, including the procurement of evangelical tools and public-address systems.
But HURIWA said the explanation has merely changed the description of the expenditure without answering the central accountability question.
The group argued that whatever label is attached to the provision, the fundamental issue remains whether hundreds of millions of naira from the federal treasury should be used to finance an evangelistic programme through churches in a constituency.
HURIWA stressed that Nigeria is a constitutionally secular and religiously diverse nation, and that public resources must be deployed with strict adherence to constitutional principles, fiscal responsibility, transparency, accountability and equal citizenship.
The organisation warned that public expenditure cannot be justified simply by dressing a controversial religious allocation in the language of youth development.
HURIWA further rejected any suggestion that the inclusion of an expenditure in an approved budget automatically settles questions about its legality, necessity or public value.
The group said every government expenditure must be capable of surviving scrutiny on the basis of lawfulness, necessity, transparency, accountability and measurable developmental impact.
According to HURIWA, the two controversies expose a disturbing pattern in Nigeria’s appropriation system in which specialised ministries and agencies are increasingly burdened with projects that appear unrelated to their statutory mandates.
The organisation warned that such practices undermine the purpose of creating specialised ministries and make it difficult to hold public officials accountable for delivering on clearly defined national objectives.
HURIWA said the Federal Government should instead be directing resources towards livestock breeding, veterinary services, animal health, dairy production, modern ranching, livestock infrastructure, agricultural research, technology, farmers’ support programmes and value-chain development.
The organisation argued that these are the investments capable of increasing food production, creating jobs, improving rural livelihoods and strengthening Nigeria’s economic resilience.
It said the livestock sector is too important to the country’s food-security strategy to become a conduit for projects that have no demonstrable connection to livestock development.
The group warned that Nigeria cannot claim to be pursuing food security while diverting scarce resources away from productive agriculture.
HURIWA called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to order a comprehensive review of questionable allocations across federal ministries, departments and agencies.
It urged the President to ensure that public resources are channelled towards projects that directly improve the welfare and productivity of Nigerians.
The organisation said Nigeria is currently confronting hunger, unemployment, insecurity and declining living standards, making fiscal discipline and prioritisation more urgent than ever.
It warned that government cannot continue to tell Nigerians that resources are scarce while questionable expenditures continue to appear in federal budgets.
HURIWA therefore demanded that the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development provide Nigerians with a comprehensive explanation of the N140 million allocation and announce concrete steps to withdraw, review or appropriately reclassify the expenditure where necessary.
It similarly demanded full disclosure of the N780 million church-related provision, including its beneficiaries, implementing organisations, procurement arrangements and expected deliverables.
The organisation warned that failure to provide satisfactory answers would deepen public suspicion that Nigeria’s budgetary process is being compromised by misplaced priorities and political considerations.
HURIWA maintained that Nigeria’s scarce resources should be deployed to areas that directly confront the country’s most urgent challenges—food security, productive agriculture, livestock transformation, security, healthcare, education, jobs, infrastructure and human-capital development.
“The livestock sector is too important to Nigeria’s food security and economic future to be reduced to a funding channel for unrelated projects,” the group said.
HURIWA insisted that every naira allocated by government must be subjected to the highest standards of transparency, accountability and public value.