The Federal Government has disclosed that it has no detailed records identifying local contractors or companies that benefited from the controversial $460 million Abuja CCTV security project.
The revelation came in a response by the Ministry of Finance to the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) during ongoing legal proceedings over the project.
According to the ministry, while local subcontractors “may have been engaged,” there are no proper records showing the identities of Nigerian companies paid directly from the Chinese loan tied to the Abuja CCTV project.
SERAP described the disclosure as alarming and raised concerns over transparency, accountability and record keeping surrounding one of Nigeria’s biggest public security projects.
The rights group also questioned the whereabouts of over 6,000 reportedly missing equipment items linked to the project.
“Nigerians still do not know exactly the names of local contractors for the project,” SERAP stated.
The organisation warned that failure to properly disclose details of the project undermines public trust and raises serious concerns about how the borrowed funds were spent.
According to documents released by the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Government received about $399.5 million from the Export-Import Bank of China for the CCTV project, while Nigeria contributed an additional $70.5 million as counterpart funding.
The ministry confirmed that Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corporation handled the project through the Bank of China, Shenzhen Branch.
Inventory records reportedly showed that only 61,970 items were delivered out of an expected 68,005, leaving 6,035 items unaccounted for.
SERAP has now given the Ministry of Finance 48 hours to fully disclose all outstanding records, including the names of Nigerian contractors, consultants and vendors linked to the project.
The group insisted Nigerians deserve to know whether the project delivered value for money, especially amid worsening insecurity in Abuja and across the country.
