Baruten council spends only N86m on capital projects in 2025, despite lavishing N112m on local, foreign trips

Baruten Local Government Council executed only four capital projects in 2025, spending a total of N86 million on them, even as it expended over N112 million on local and foreign travels within the same period, official financial records show.

A review of the council’s expenditure documents indicates that total capital spending for the year stood at N86,000,000.

The breakdown shows that N48,000,000 was spent on the renovation of Local Government staff quarters. An additional N10,000,000 went into the renovation of “C” Block 9 and 10 of the same quarters.

The council also spent N20,000,000 on the renovation of a Primary Health Care (PHC) facility, while N8,000,000 was used for the rehabilitation of the Local Government fish pond.

Altogether, the four items accounted for the entire N86 million capital expenditure recorded for 2025.

Of the four projects, only the renovation of the Primary Health Care facility, which cost N20,000,000, has a clear and direct impact on residents through improved access to healthcare services. The remaining projects focused on renovating staff quarters and rehabilitating the council’s fish pond, with limited immediate benefit to the wider public.

In contrast, the council expended N111,305,000 under “Travel and Transport – General” during the year.

Of that amount, N78,355,000 was spent on local travels and transport, while N31,700,000 covered other travel-related engagements within the country. A further N1,250,000 was recorded as foreign travel expenditure.

The documents reviewed did not state the destinations, duration, purpose of the trips, or the officials who undertook them.

The travel expenses exceeded capital spending by more than N25 million, highlighting a spending pattern in which recurrent costs significantly outpaced investment in physical projects.

Beyond travel expenditure, the records also show that the council received N523,850,000 under “Security Vote (Including Operations).” However, there were no detailed entries in the reviewed documents indicating specific security-related procurements or projects tied to that vote.

Baruten is among the local government areas hardest hit by terrorist attacks in the state, with communities facing recurring security threats.