Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has condemned the alleged insertion of a ₦1.4 billion road project in Ogun State into the 2026 budget of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education (NCAOOSCE), describing it as a case of illegal budget padding.

Speaking on Thursday at the Penpushing Media 8th Anniversary Lecture, Falana criticised the inclusion of road infrastructure projects in the commission’s budget, despite the agency’s mandate being limited to education. Newsworld reports that the NCAOOSCE has come under scrutiny over the allocation of ₦8.4 billion for road projects in Ogun, Ekiti and Katsina states, which it said were inserted into its budget by the National Assembly.

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Describing the development as an abuse of the budgeting process, Falana called for an immediate review of the 2026 Appropriation Act to remove projects that fall outside the commission’s statutory responsibilities. “It was recently disclosed that a road in Ogun State will be constructed with a sum of ₦1.4 billion. And that is what we call budget padding. Members of the National Assembly insert projects into the budget of agencies of government,” he said.

The senior lawyer also faulted the Presidency for allowing what he described as illegal budget insertions to stand, arguing that the President has the constitutional authority to reject such provisions before signing the budget into law. According to him, repeated exposure of the practice has failed to stop it because the executive has not exercised its veto powers against the insertions.

Falana further expressed concern over what he described as persistent corruption and weak institutional oversight, warning that the scale of public fund mismanagement may only become fully known after administrations leave office. He urged Nigerians to report individuals living beyond their legitimate means to anti-corruption agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), insisting that citizens and the media must work together to promote accountability in public service.