Ekiti Govt Under Fïre Over N1.8bn Abuja Lodge, Billions in Contracts to Permanent Secretaries

A fresh review of Ekiti State’s 2026 budget has sparked criticism over government spending priorities, highlighting the allocation of N300 million for a Governor’s lodge in Abuja despite N470 million already spent on the project this year.

This follows earlier findings of a N320 million contract for a guest chalet inside the Government House, awarded to the Permanent Secretary of the same department.

These expenditures add to the previously reported N1.8 billion total cost of the Abuja lodge built for Governor Biodun Oyebanji and his deputy.

The revelations emerge amid growing questions about transparency. A review of the state’s 2024 financial statements shows that 35 government agencies, including the Ministry of Education and the State University Teaching Hospital, received zero funding for their combined N3.3 billion capital budget.

Despite these funding gaps, the state has continued to award high-value contracts worth hundreds of millions and even billions of naira to unnamed “Permanent Secretaries.”