Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has raised concerns that the federal government’s centralised contract payment system is stalling the execution of capital projects across ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
Gatekeepers News reports that Fagbemi made the remarks on Wednesday while defending the Ministry of Justice’s 2026 budget proposal before the Senate Committee on Judiciary. He criticised the current arrangement, under which the Ministry of Finance handles payments for capital projects executed by MDAs, describing it as cumbersome and inefficient.
“The old system is better because you don’t need to know anybody before your allocation is released,” Fagbemi said. “The current system of centralised payment is plagued with so many difficulties; I don’t want to say complexities.”
He disclosed that the Ministry of Justice recorded zero performance in the capital component of its 2025 budget, despite N869 million being released, because the funds were not cash-backed. According to him, delays in fund releases, combined with the centralised payment structure, have hindered project implementation across MDAs.
The non-execution of several capital projects in 2025 prompted President Bola Tinubu to approve the rollover of 70 percent of the ministry’s capital allocation to the 2026 fiscal year. Fagbemi noted that the remaining 30 percent earmarked for 2025 implementation has also been affected by funding constraints and bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Supporting the minister’s concerns, Adeniyi Adegbonmire, chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, said delays in fund releases are dangerous, particularly for the justice sector.
“A number of us share that opinion that the old system is better because the delay is dangerous, especially when it affects the justice sector, which is at the heart of our social coalition,” he said.
“Where the justice sector is delayed or is hamstrung through bureaucratic bottlenecks, then the system is put under pressure. So, it is very important that we have an organisation, a process that responds speedily to the demands of the justice sector.”
