A Plateau road sits in the Navy's budget: N2.295bn in a deleted 2022 schedule, N1.697bn in the 2026 Act

In March 2023 the National Assembly posted the Ministry of Defence schedule of its 2022 budget amendment. On page 11, under the heading 0116004001 Nigerian Navy, between a patrol-boat order and a block of sailors' quarters, sits a line for a road: "Construction of Dengi-Kwalmiya-Gagdi-Wawus S/B Bauchi road in Plateau State", N2,295,000,000. Plateau State has no coastline. The file has since been taken down, and a copy survives in the Vero Archive.

Three and a half years later the same road is still in the Navy's budget. The 2026 Appropriation Act lists "Ongoing construction of Dengi -Kwalmiya Gagdi-Wawus S/B Bauchi road, Plateau State" under the Nigerian Navy at N1,696,639,197 (page 49). Only one line in the 2026 Act names the road, and it is in the Navy's list.

The 2022 file is "2022-APPROPRIATION-AMENDMENT-MINISTRY-OF-DEFENCE.pdf", one of the per-ministry schedules the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO) uploaded to nabro.gov.ng in March 2023. That address now returns 404 Not Found; we checked again on 7 October 2026. The Wayback Machine captured the 29-page file on 4 October 2023, and the Vero Archive holds the same file under its deleted gov.ng collection (records 236272 and 497492). We read the copy downloaded from the Wayback capture.

Page 1 of the schedule gives the Navy N108,167,092,586 for personnel, N14,240,714,956 for overhead and N50,619,582,709 for capital, a total of N173,027,390,251. Those three figures add to that total. The road line, coded ERGP202202823 and typed "New", takes N2,295,000,000 of the capital vote, about 4.5 per cent.

The other projects on the Navy's 2022 list are what the service's budget is usually for: jetties at Bonny and Ikuru, a special operations command, a landing ship tank, simulators, a reference hospital at Ojo, and housing for ratings and officers.

In 2026 the Navy's allocation is far larger. The Act's Defence summary (page 36) gives it N322,906,426,508 for personnel, N49,232,066,996 for overhead and N71,778,216,357 for capital, a total of N443,916,709,861, which the three parts add to. The Plateau road now carries a different code, ERGP12240182, and is typed "Ongoing". Its N1,696,639,197 is about 2.4 per cent of the Navy's capital.

Between the two documents the road's allocation fell by N598,360,803, or about 26 per cent. What changed less is its position: in both years it sits inside the service whose capital budget is meant to keep ships at sea.

The 2026 list has company. It opens with three lines, all under the Navy, for "replacement of overloaded and obsolete transformers" in Sagamu, Remo North and Odogbolu local government areas of Ogun East senatorial district: N350,000,000, N350,000,000 and N310,100,000, which add to N1,010,100,000. Next to the Plateau road is N70,000,000 for "renovation/repairs of NMA Ogozy street Amogudu Abiriba" in Abia North.

The Act classifies these lines in a way that matches. The economic summary at the top of page 49 sits under a heading carried over from the Ministry of Defence headquarters, but its totals (capital N71,778,216,357, total N443,916,709,861) are the Navy's. In it, "Construction / provision of electricity" is N1,010,100,000, the three Ogun transformer lines added together, and "Construction / provision of roads" is N1,766,639,197, the Plateau road plus the Abiriba street (N1,696,639,197 plus N70,000,000).

There are innocent readings, and the record allows them. A budget line is permission to spend, not proof that money moved or that a road was built. Projects that members of the National Assembly add for their constituencies are often placed in whichever agency's budget has room, and the agency then acts as executing body through a contractor. Lowering the figure from N2,295,000,000 to N1,696,639,197 may simply reflect work already paid for. Calling the line "Ongoing" in 2026 is consistent with that.

What the documents do not show is how much was released, who holds the contract, how many kilometres have been built, or how the Navy oversees road work in a state with no sea. We did not trace the road through the 2023, 2024 or 2025 budgets, so we cannot say whether it was funded in every year in between. The Navy and NABRO had not been asked to comment before this report was filed.

The point is a narrow one, and both documents prove it. A road through Plateau State was written into the Nigerian Navy's capital budget in 2022 at N2,295,000,000, and it is still there in 2026 at N1,696,639,197. The 2022 page that shows where it started is no longer on the National Assembly's website. Both pages are reproduced below.

What this rests on

Two primary documents read in full at the cited pages. (1) NABRO, 2022 Appropriation Amendment, Ministry of Defence schedule (29 pages; live URL 404 on 7 Oct 2026; Wayback capture 20231004122921; Vero Archive records 236272 and 497492). Page 1: Navy 108,167,092,586 + 14,240,714,956 = 122,407,807,542; + 50,619,582,709 = 173,027,390,251, matching the printed total. Page 11: ERGP202202823, Dengi-Kwalmiya-Gagdi-Wawus S/B Bauchi road, New, 2,295,000,000. Share: 2,295,000,000 / 50,619,582,709 = 4.53 per cent. (2) 2026 Appropriation Act. Page 36: Navy 322,906,426,508 + 49,232,066,996 = 372,138,493,504; + 71,778,216,357 = 443,916,709,861, matching the printed total. Page 49: ERGP12240182, Ongoing, 1,696,639,197; share 1,696,639,197 / 71,778,216,357 = 2.36 per cent. Change: 2,295,000,000 - 1,696,639,197 = 598,360,803; 598,360,803 / 2,295,000,000 = 26.07 per cent. Ogun transformers: 350,000,000 + 350,000,000 + 310,100,000 = 1,010,100,000, equal to 'Construction / provision of electricity' on page 49. Roads: 1,696,639,197 + 70,000,000 = 1,766,639,197, equal to 'Construction / provision of roads' on page 49. A search of the full 2026 Act text found one line naming Kwalmiya. Time between the Wayback capture (4 Oct 2023) and this check (7 Oct 2026): 3 years and 3 days.

What this does not establish

Whether any money was released or spent on the road in any year; who the contractor is; how much of the road exists; whether the Navy executes or supervises the work; whether the line ran through the 2023, 2024 and 2025 Acts (not checked); who proposed placing it in the Navy's budget; why the 2022 schedule was removed from nabro.gov.ng. No wrongdoing by any person or body is alleged. The Navy and NABRO were not asked for comment before filing.