Between May and June, the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA) released N189.1 million to commercial contractors for procurement and civil projects that fall far outside its statutory objective of advancing biotechnology research, records have revealed.
Across six separate disbursements to five commercial entities from May 10 through June 16, the government research body provided 30 percent mobilization payments. These funds were allocated for cargo tricycles, electrical transformers, agricultural machinery, solar-powered illumination, a water borehole, and property refurbishment.
The financial trail started on May 10 with a N51.1 million transfer to Topic Construction and Agricultural Development Company Limited. This initial deposit was designated for the structural rehabilitation of a deteriorated community development association facility and residential quarters in Egume, Dekina Local Government Area, Kogi State.
That same day, NBRDA issued N19.9 million to cover upfront costs for the deployment of integrated solar street illumination across settlements within the Gbaji/Kwali/Kuje/Gwagwa Federal Constituency in Abuja. Simultaneously, Gordons Agricultural Production and Construction Services Limited received N8.9 million to drill a solar-powered borehole for the Obogbo community in Iyale, also within Kogi’s Dekina LGA.
The May 10 expenditures further included two transfers targeting rural areas in the Federal Capital Territory. MSD Partners Limited was granted N17.5 million to supply and mount utility transformers, while Miristar International Limited collected N25.9 million to provide mechanized farming tractors for agricultural workers in the identical constituency.
Later, on June 16, an additional disbursement of N65.6 million was directed to B S Multy Projects Limited for supplying freight tricycles to residents of the Akko Federal Constituency in Gombe State.
In addition to bearing no relevance to biological science, these expenditures bear the hallmarks of lawmaker-sponsored federal constituency interventions. Under the NABDA Act of 2022, supervised by the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, the agency’s explicit responsibility is to spearhead, regulate, and commercialize breakthrough biotechnology processes to foster economic growth, rather than procuring community infrastructure.
