Delta records full spending on N50 million court project, chief judge says funds never accessed

A N50 million court construction project in Erho-Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, has presented a disturbing discrepancy between the state government’s budget performance records and the state judiciary’s account.

The Delta State Government’s 2024 approved budget provided N50 million for the construction of a magistrate court at Erho-Abraka under the High Court of Justice. The project code is 13100123031100.

The state’s 2024 fourth-quarter Budget Implementation Report subsequently recorded the project as fully implemented, according to PREMIUM TIMES’ review of the document.

However, a response from the office of the Chief Judge of Delta State to a Freedom of Information request by Tracka, a service-delivery promotion arm and project-tracking platform of BudgIT, says the money was never accessed.

Tracka visited the court premises in Erho-Abraka and reported no evidence of construction or renovation corresponding to the N50 million project.

Court officials interviewed by Tracka also reported being unaware of the project. The magistrate at the court reportedly said the existing benches in the courtroom were provided by the community.

The physical condition of the facility further raises questions about the reported implementation. Parts of the court roof are reportedly pulling away, while bushes have overgrown substantial portions of the compound.

‘N50m remained unaccessed’

In a letter dated 8 June 2026 and signed by the Chief Registrar, Eloho Okodiya-Onoriose, on behalf of the Chief Judge of Delta State, Tessy Diai, the judiciary acknowledged that N50 million was appropriated in the 2024 Delta State Appropriation Law for construction of the magistrate court at Erho-Abraka.

But the judiciary said the project was never awarded. It said no payment voucher, fund requisition or withdrawal request was raised against the allocation.

“The entire N50,000,000.00 … as appropriated remain unaccessed throughout the 2024 fiscal year or thereafter,” the letter stated.

The chief registrar rejected Tracka’s claim that the N50 million had been spent on the project, describing the assertion as “totally incorrect and misleading.”

The letter said the project allocation elapsed because it was not awarded within the 2024 financial year or subsequently.

The response creates a direct conflict with the expenditure position contained in Delta State’s budget implementation records.

What Delta’s budget records show

PREMIUM TIMES independently examined Delta State’s 2024 fiscal documents.

The approved 2024 budget shows N50 million allocated to the construction of the magistrate court at Erho-Abraka, under the High Court of Justice.

The project was also listed in the state’s first-quarter 2024 Budget Performance Report with a N50 million allocation but zero implementation at that stage.

The second-quarter report similarly showed N50 million for the project and 0 per cent performance.

By the third quarter, the project was still recorded at zero per cent implementation, with the N50 million allocation intact.

But the position changed in the fourth-quarter report, which recorded the project as having achieved 100 per cent implementation, according to PREMIUM TIMES’ review.

That means the state’s own quarterly records show the project moving from zero implementation through the third quarter to full implementation by the end of the year, even though the chief judge’s office says the project was never awarded and no money was accessed.

The discrepancy is particularly noteworthy because the 2024 audited accounts published by the Delta State Auditor-General include the consolidated budget report for the year ended 31 December 2024 as part of the audited financial documentation.

PREMIUM TIMES reviewed the 2024 audited financial statements but did not find a corresponding capital expenditure line item that independently clarified the N50 million expenditure.

Project predates Oborevwori’s administration

The Erho-Abraka court project is not a new proposal. PREMIUM TIMES traced the project through earlier Delta State budgets and found that it had appeared in the state’s budgetary plans years before the 2024 allocation.

In the 2019 budget, for instance, Delta provided N25 million for the construction of the magistrate court at Erho-Abraka.

According to PREMIUM TIMES’ review of subsequent budget documents, the project received a N50 million provision in 2021 but no funding was released for it between 2021 and 2023.

It was not provided for in the 2022 budget, while N20 million was budgeted in the 2023 revised budget.

The 2024 allocation represented another attempt to fund a project that had remained on the state’s books for years. Yet, according to the chief judge’s office, the 2024 allocation was never accessed.

No evidence on procurement portal

PREMIUM TIMES also checked the Delta State Government’s procurement portal for evidence of the project.

The project was not listed among the 132 completed projects, 171 ongoing projects or 127 new projects displayed on the portal, according to the newspaper’s review.

The absence of the project from the procurement records further complicates the state’s reported 100 per cent implementation of the N50 million allocation.

If the project was fully implemented as the fourth-quarter budget report indicates, questions arise about the procurement process, contractor, payment records, certification and physical delivery of the project.

Conversely, if the chief judge’s office is correct that the allocation was never accessed, then the state’s budget implementation record requires explanation.

‘Where is the N50m?’

Tracka in its post on X raised the issue publicly after receiving the response from the chief judge’s office.

The organisation said the response raised an important accountability question because the budget implementation report and the judiciary’s records appeared to tell different stories.

“If the funds were not accessed, how did the expenditure appear as fully implemented in the Budget Implementation Report?” Tracka asked.

It called for the relevant authorities to reconcile the figures and explain what happened to the allocation.

The organisation also asked the office of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to examine the discrepancy.

Yet, the issue moves beyond whether a court was constructed. What is now at stake is the reliability of public financial records and the whereabouts of the funds as reported in the fiscal documents as being spent.

A budget implementation report is expected to provide citizens with a picture of how appropriated public resources were used. Where an expenditure is recorded as 100 per cent implemented but the agency responsible for the project says the allocation was never accessed, the discrepancy requires a documented explanation.

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Government keeps mum

PREMIUM TIMES sought clarification from the Delta State Government on the apparent contradiction.

The Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu, did not respond to calls from our reporter.

The newspaper also sent a media enquiry to Mr Aniagwu via WhatsApp on 18 September and followed it up on the morning of 19 September. He had not responded as of the time of filing this report.

PREMIUM TIMES asked the government to explain how N50 million could be recorded as 100 per cent implemented if the chief judge’s office says the money was never accessed.

The newspaper also asked whether the money was released, accessed or expended by any government agency, department or contractor and, if so, requested details of the contractor, contract and certificate of completion.

It further asked whether the government had commenced any process to reconcile the seeming difference between its budget implementation records and the position of the chief judge’s office.

Delta State’s official 2024 financial records are publicly presented as part of the state’s fiscal reporting framework, while its audited accounts were signed off through the Auditor-General’s reporting process.

However, the immediate reality appears different from the paper record as the court remains in a visibly dilapidated condition, while the N50 million allocated for its construction remains the subject of conflicting official records.

The conflict leaves unanswered questions: how did a project whose implementing authority says was never awarded or funded become 100 per cent implemented in Delta State’s 2024 budget performance records?