Budget padding exposed: Dental College in Enugu paid N559m for bridges, rice distribution in Plateau, Akwa Ibom

The Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy in Enugu disbursed N559.2 million to 13 companies for projects including bridges, solar streetlights, rice distribution and youth empowerment across Plateau and Akwa Ibom states — projects entirely unrelated to the institution’s statutory dental education mandate.

FIJ reports that payment records on GovSpend, analysed by The PUNCH, show 16 transactions made on May 9 covering infrastructure, medical outreach and empowerment projects spread across multiple federal constituencies — with N429.35 million, representing 76 per cent of the total, going to infrastructure-related work.

The college, established under a 2017 Act to provide dental technology and therapy education, had no apparent mandate covering any of the funded projects, raising fundamental questions about why it served as the paying agency for geographically and operationally unrelated constituency interventions.