…Petition Accuses Senate Appropriation Committee Chairman Of Massive Project Insertions
….Petitioners Cite ₦200bn Vague Allocations, ₦50bn Suspected Duplication
Daud Olatunji
The 2027 Ogun State governorship race has been thrown into a fresh controversy following a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission over alleged massive budgetary insertions linked to the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi.
The petitioners accused Adeola, who represents Ogun West Senatorial District and chairs the Senate Committee on Appropriation, of allegedly manipulating the federal budgetary process to insert projects worth more than ₦1.8tn between 2023 and 2026.
They alleged that the projects were inserted under constituency and intervention arrangements and raised questions over their locations, descriptions, execution, procurement processes and the companies allegedly contracted to implement them.
The petition, titled “Petition Against Senator Solomon Adeola (Yayi) for Unlawful Budget Padding, Procurement Fraud, Money Laundering, Corporate Identity Theft, and the Systemic Diversion of Public Funds Through Front Companies and Compromised Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs),” urged the two anti-corruption agencies to commence an immediate investigation.
The development comes as political parties and candidates begin positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 governorship election in Ogun State, where Adeola is the APC candidate.
However, the allegations contained in the petition have not been established by a court, the EFCC or ICPC. PLATFORM TIMES also has not independently established the allegations.
‘More than ₦1.8tn inserted’
The petitioners alleged that Adeola’s influence over the national budget went beyond what they described as the normal constituency-project envelope of an individual senator.
They claimed that more than ₦1.8tn was appropriated through projects allegedly linked to the senator between 2023 and 2026.
The petition stated, “While statutory provisions limit the annual Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIP) / Constituency Project envelope for individual members of the National Assembly—typically capped at approximately ₦2 billion per Senator—Senator Adeola has unlawfully manipulated the national budgetary process to single-handedly appropriate over ₦1.8 Trillion in national budget allocations between 2023 and 2026 under the guise of constituency and intervention projects.”
The petitioners alleged that the process involved budget lines that were “inflated, duplicated, and diverted to non-existent, vague, or duplicated projects across and outside Ogun State.”
They further alleged that the projects were executed, or intended to be executed, through what they described as “briefcase companies” and federal agencies whose statutory responsibilities allegedly had little connection with the projects.
According to the petition, “This process relies heavily on briefcase companies, corporate identity theft, and the severe overburdening of federal agencies outside their primary statutory mandates.”
₦200bn vague projects alleged
The petitioners claimed that more than ₦200bn in budget lines were vaguely described, making it difficult to establish precisely what was to be delivered, where it would be delivered and at what cost.
Among the descriptions cited were “Provision of Infrastructure in Ogun State” and “Vocational Skill and Empowerment in South West.”
The petitioners alleged that such descriptions lacked adequate details on quantities, rates and exact locations.
They cited Financial Regulation 603, alleging that the descriptions raised questions about the preparation and processing of supporting vouchers.
The group stated that its review of federal budget documents showed that Adeola had allegedly used his position as chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation to insert vague projects.
The petitioners said, “From our review of the budgets of the Federal Government, it is alarming to note that Senator Adeola has used his office as Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation to insert vague projects into the national budget beyond his statutory limits.”
They further alleged, “The most intriguing thing is that majority of the projects Senator Solomon Adeola padded into the budgets cannot be seen on the ground as some of them were highly inflated and funds paid to surrogates companies.”
The claims are allegations that the petitioners want investigators to verify through documentary audits and physical inspection.
₦50bn suspected duplication
Another major allegation in the petition was the suspected duplication of projects across federal agencies.
The petitioners estimated that more than ₦50bn in projects showed signs of duplication across different MDAs within the same fiscal years.
They cited alleged duplication of medical-supply projects in Ogun West as an example.
According to the petition, identical or substantially similar allocations allegedly appeared under the Federal College of Freshwater Fishery Technology, New Bussa, and the Nigeria Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research.
The petitioners specifically cited budget codes ERGP202301608/ERGP202301609 and ERGP202301658/ERGP202301656 and asked the anti-graft agencies to determine whether the projects represented separate legitimate interventions or duplicated budget lines.
Billions allocated through research institutes, colleges
The petition provided a schedule of allocations which the petitioners described as suspicious.
In the documents made availabke to PLATFORM TIMES on Thursday evenning, it stated that for instance, the Federal Cooperative College, Ibadan, was listed with ₦7.743bn in 2023, ₦13.7525bn in 2024 and ₦36.135bn in 2025.
The Nigeria Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research was listed with ₦5.01019bn in 2023, ₦9.974bn in 2024 and ₦6.3bn in 2026.
The Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, Lagos, was listed with ₦18.266bn in 2024 and ₦11bn in 2025.
The National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, was listed with ₦15.5bn in 2025, while the Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu, was listed with ₦17.55bn in the same year.
The Energy Commission of Nigeria was listed with ₦12.5bn, while the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute, Ilorin, was listed with ₦10bn.
Other agencies listed included the Federal College of Freshwater Fishery Technology, New Bussa; National Productivity Centre; Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria; Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology, Lagos; Sheda Science and Technology; National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education; Project Development Institute, Enugu; National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Zaria; and the College of Veterinary and Medical Laboratory Technology, Vom.
The petitioners questioned why agencies established for specialised research, education and technical functions were allegedly being used to implement projects such as roads, street lighting, tricycles and broad empowerment schemes.
They alleged that federal research and academic institutions had been “weaponized” for projects outside their core mandates.
The petition stated that “Road constructions, street lighting, and building projects are routinely inserted into agricultural and scientific research bodies.”
It cited the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Zaria, and the College of Veterinary and Medical Laboratory Technology, Vom, as examples of institutions allegedly allocated road-related projects.
The petitioners argued that such arrangements allegedly “obscure oversight and facilitate financial diversion.”
Contractor network under scrutiny
The petition also raised questions over the companies allegedly connected to the projects.
It alleged a network of companies registered around similar dates, operating from common addresses and allegedly connected through a person identified in the petition as Augustine John Abah.
The petitioners described the alleged arrangement as involving “surrogate/briefcase companies” and asked investigators to determine their actual beneficial ownership.
They alleged that several companies shared addresses in Abuja and Ogun State.
One cluster allegedly included Cinedox Solution Limited, Akgen Solution Ltd, Latdok Integrated Services Ltd, Lanum Integrated Services Ltd and Bapam House Service Ltd at Suite B87, Area 11 Shopping Mall, Garki, Abuja.
Another cluster allegedly comprised Volatix Products Ltd, Ibadak Construction Ltd, Techtap Consult Ltd, Rayoz Digit Services Ltd, Nanvillias Management Limited and Alpuba Services Ltd at Plot 39, Kwame Nkrumah Crescent, Asokoro, Abuja.
Est Source Solutions Ltd and End Colours Services Ltd were listed at 48 Unity Street, Ibafo, Ogun State.
The petitioners asked the anti-graft agencies to physically verify the addresses and determine whether the companies operated independently or were linked through common ownership or control.
‘Corporate identity theft’ allegation
The petitioners also raised a serious allegation concerning the identity of Abah.
They alleged that the person was a legal practitioner and a central figure in the corporate network.
The petition stated, “Augustine John Abah, an acclaimed legal practitioner cannot be traced despite the fact that he controls over 17 companies sharing three addresses in Abuja and Ogun State.”
The petitioners further claimed that publicly available records suggested the identity was “either non-existent, deceased, or being actively exploited (‘Corporate Identity Theft’) to facilitate illegal procurement, tax evasion, and laundering of public funds.”
They called for an investigation into the person’s identity, company ownership records, tax records, procurement history and bank transactions.
The petitioners also asked investigators to establish the beneficial owners of the companies and determine whether they received contracts arising from the alleged budgetary insertions.
The allegations against Abah and the named companies have not been independently established by PLATFORM TIMES.
‘Ongoing’ classification questioned
The petition also questioned the repeated classification of some projects as “ONGOING.”
According to the petitioners, the classification could make projects difficult to track and could allegedly facilitate payments without corresponding physical execution.
They urged investigators to compare budget provisions with procurement records, payment vouchers, certificates of completion and physical projects.
The petitioners alleged that the “ongoing” classification was being used to “obscure trackability, bypass competitive bidding under the Public Procurement Act, and siphon payments without physical execution on the ground.”
Whether such practices occurred in the projects cited is a matter for investigation.
Projects outside Ogun West
The political dimension of the petition was further heightened by allegations concerning projects allegedly inserted outside Ogun West.
The petitioners claimed that billions of naira in projects were allegedly allocated to areas outside Adeola’s senatorial district, including Rivers State, Lagos West and some Northern states.
They described the alleged allocations as “extralegal territorial appropriations.”
The petitioners stated, “Senator Solomon Adeola is one of the major senators who allocates projects outside his own senatorial district of Ogun West.”
They urged investigators to establish the legal and administrative basis for the projects and determine whether they were constituency interventions, federal agency projects or legislative recommendations.
EFCC, ICPC asked to ‘follow the money’
Rather than relying only on budget documents, the petitioners asked the anti-graft agencies to follow the alleged money trail from appropriation to payment.
They requested an audit of the affected MDAs, including their procurement procedures, disbursement records and compliance with their statutory mandates between 2023 and 2026.
They also called for on-site inspection of every project contained in the disputed allocations.
The petitioners asked the EFCC and ICPC to:
investigate Adeola over the allegations;
audit the listed MDAs;
investigate Abah and associated companies;
verify the physical existence of the projects;
examine procurement and payment records;
trace the beneficiaries of payments;
establish beneficial ownership of contractor companies;
investigate suspected project duplication;
determine whether project costs were inflated; and
recover any public funds found to have been illegally diverted.
They also called for accounts to be frozen where investigators establish that public funds were diverted.
The petition stated, “Freeze Accounts and Recover Diverted Funds associated with the front companies listed herein, prosecuting all guilty political actors, corporate directors, and administrative collaborators under the law.”
2027 political implications
The petition comes against the backdrop of an increasingly competitive political environment in Ogun State ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
Adeola’s emergence as the APC candidate has placed his legislative record, influence over federal projects and political activities under heightened public attention.
The petitioners are now asking the anti-corruption agencies to subject the senator’s alleged budgetary influence to forensic scrutiny.
The allegations, if investigated and substantiated, could raise questions about procurement, budget implementation, legislative oversight and the management of constituency and intervention projects.
Conversely, the mere filing of a petition does not establish criminal liability, and the allegations require independent examination by the appropriate authorities.
The controversy also raises a broader question about the transparency of constituency and intervention projects: whether lawmakers’ influence over budgetary provisions can be effectively tracked from the point of appropriation to procurement, payment and physical delivery.
Petitioners offer documents, witnesses
The petitioners said they were prepared to assist investigators with further evidence.
They stated, “We stand ready to provide additional documentation, budgetary line-item analyses, and witness verification to assist your officers in this investigation.”
They urged the EFCC and ICPC to commence investigations and determine whether the allegations amount to breaches of Nigeria’s financial, procurement and anti-corruption laws.
Responding through his Chief of Staff, Chief Kayode Odunaro, Senator Adeola said he would not respond to what he described as a “frivolous petition” from what he characterised as possibly faceless individuals.
According to Odunaro, the allegations contained in the petition demonstrated what he described as “crass ignorance of the budgetary process in the National Assembly.”
He, however, stated that the Senator remained willing to cooperate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, or any other relevant government agency should any of the agencies find merit in investigating the allegations of irregularities in the budgetary process.
He said “The Senator will not respond to frivolous petition from possibly faceless individual(s) on allegations that reveal crass ignorance of budgetary process in the National Assembly.
“However, the Senator is open to cooperating with EFCC and ICPC or indeed any other relevant government agency, if they see merit in investigating any allegation of irregularities in the budgetary process.Thank you.”
'
'Do you want to share a story with us? Do you want to advertise with us? Do you need publicity for a product, service, or event? Contact us on WhatsApp +2348183319097 Email: platformtimes@gmail.com
We are committed to impactful investigative journalism for human interest and social justice. Your donation will help us tell more stories. Kindly donate any amount HERE
