Nigeria’s federal government has implemented stringent transparency measures requiring Global Positioning System coordinates for all capital projects exceeding N150 million, strengthening accountability frameworks and reducing project abandonment across government agencies.
The directive, outlined in the 2025 Appropriation Act implementation guidelines, mandates all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to provide precise geographical locations for significant infrastructure investments in their monthly expenditure submissions to enhance monitoring and evaluation processes.
Budget Office of the Federation officials project the GPS requirement will eliminate approximately 35% of duplicated projects while improving digital tracking capabilities for an estimated N2.8 trillion in annual capital expenditure across federal agencies. The measure supports Nigeria’s Bottom-Up Cash Management strategy and fiscal responsibility objectives.
“All MDAs must indicate GPS coordinates for capital projects of N150 million and above in their expenditure plans,” according to the official implementation guidelines. “This requirement will guide cash planning and ensure alignment with government priorities and the 2025 Appropriation Act provisions.”
The transparency initiative addresses longstanding concerns about abandoned and untraceable projects that have cost taxpayers billions of naira over successive administrations. Independent verification processes will leverage satellite technology and geospatial mapping to monitor project implementation in real-time.
Economic analysts expect the GPS mandate to improve contractor accountability and reduce inflated project costs through enhanced oversight mechanisms. The directive complements ongoing efforts to digitize government procurement processes and eliminate ghost projects from budget allocations.
Director-General of the Budget Office must approve each agency’s expenditure plan to ensure compliance with the new requirements, while monthly cash releases will depend on submitted GPS-verified project locations. The implementation timeline requires full compliance by July 31, 2025.
The measure particularly targets infrastructure projects in transportation, power, water resources, and housing sectors where previous administrations recorded significant cases of abandoned or relocated projects without proper documentation.
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