Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The civic technology platform Tracka has exposed an alleged case of public fund mismanagement in Abia State, revealing that N16.4 million paid to a contractor for the upgrade of classroom blocks at OverRail Primary School in Uzuakoli was not used for any construction work, with the school building remaining abandoned and dilapidated for three years.
Tracka, a subsidiary of BudgIT that tracks government spending and project implementation across Nigeria, made the disclosure in a social media post on Thursday, June 18, 2026. According to the organisation, the sum of N16,400,000 was paid to SUNRAY ENERGY LIMITED in August 2025 as the final tranche of payment for the upgrade of two blocks of three classrooms at OverRail Primary School in Uzuakoli Local Government Area of Abia State. However, a subsequent visit to the school by Tracka’s monitoring team revealed no evidence that any construction or renovation work had been carried out.
The organisation reported that the building has been abandoned due to its dilapidated state for the past three years. At the time of tracking, no construction workers were on site, no materials were present, and no visible signs of any upgrade work could be found. Residents of the community also confirmed that they were unaware of any funds being disbursed for the renovation of the school. The school remains in a state of disrepair, with the structure gradually being overtaken by grasses and weeds. The Tracka post read: “In Aug 2025, N16.4m was paid to SUNRAY ENERGY LIMITED as final tranch of payment for the Upgrade of 2Blocks of 3 Classrooms at OverRail Primary School, Uzuakoli LGA, Abia state. We tracked and report that this project has not been done. The building has been abandoned due to its dilapidated state for the past 3years. No sign of construction was seen at the time of tracking and residents say they are unaware of the disbursement to the renovation of this school.”
Tracka has called on the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (FMHUD), which it identified as the implementing agency, to provide the public with detailed information on how the funds disbursed for the project were used. The organisation also implored the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the project and make its findings public. The call for investigation comes amid growing concerns over the diversion of public funds meant for critical infrastructure projects, particularly in the education sector, which has suffered from decades of underfunding and neglect.
This is not the first time Tracka has uncovered abandoned or unexecuted government projects in Abia State and across Nigeria. In May 2026, the organisation reported that N265 million paid for an e-learning facility at Bende Secondary Grammar School in Abia State had also not been utilised, though the office of Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu dismissed the report as misleading and politically motivated. In March 2026, Tracka also raised concerns over N59 billion allocated to empowerment projects under the Zonal Intervention Projects, questioning the lack of visible impact from such massive spending.
The OverRail Primary School case highlights the systemic challenges facing Nigeria’s public education infrastructure. According to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Nigeria has over 300,000 public primary schools, many of which are in deplorable condition, with inadequate classrooms, lack of furniture, and poor sanitation facilities. Despite billions of naira allocated annually for school infrastructure, a significant portion of these funds often fail to translate into tangible improvements on the ground due to corruption, poor project monitoring, and weak accountability mechanisms.
The ICPC has previously uncovered abandoned constituency projects worth over N45 billion across the country, including 66 education projects that were either not executed or left uncompleted. The commission has repeatedly urged citizens and civil society organisations to report suspected cases of corruption and mismanagement of public funds, and Tracka’s latest revelation presents an opportunity for the anti-graft agency to demonstrate its commitment to holding contractors and government officials accountable.
The Abia State Government has not issued an official response to Tracka’s allegations, and efforts to reach the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for comment were unsuccessful at the time of this report. However, the case has sparked outrage on social media, with many Nigerians calling for a thorough investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the alleged diversion of funds meant to improve the learning environment for children in Uzuakoli.
For the pupils of OverRail Primary School, the promise of upgraded classrooms remains unfulfilled, and the dilapidated building continues to stand as a silent testament to the failure of public accountability. As Tracka continues its advocacy for transparency and fiscal responsibility, the organisation has urged citizens to pay closer attention to state budgets and to demand that public funds work for the people they are meant to serve. “Accountability should not end with budget releases; it must extend to verifying what is actually delivered on the ground,” Tracka said in its post.
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