This trend has been observed in previous years. In both 2023 and 2024, the agriculture ministry’s capital budget included line items for tailoring workshops, grinding machine distribution and laptop donations, all filed under agricultural development.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture has allocated N785 million in its 2025 budget for vocational training of hairdressers, barbers and urban businesses – expenditures seemingly unrelated to its core mandate. A N100 million provision for “Training and Empowerment of Hairdressers in Ilorin West/Asa Federal Constituency” features among the controversial line items.
An FIJ investigation reveals that three controversial projects worth N785 million for hairdressers and barbers in the Agriculture Ministry’s 2025 budget were inserted during legislative review, absent from the original executive proposal.
The allocations include N100m for Kwara Central (represented by Senate Agriculture Committee member Saliu Mustapha), N500m for Ogun West (Senator Solomon Adeola’s constituency), and N185m for Lagos constituencies.