By Newspot Nigeria News Desk
Umuahia, Abia State — The Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy & Development (FENRAD) has raised serious concerns over the recent signing into law of a 25-year Abia State Development Roadmap, warning that repeated long-term planning exercises risk wasting scarce public resources without delivering real development outcomes.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the civil society organization noted that the new roadmap comes barely four years after the unveiling of a 30-year Abia State Development Plan by the immediate past administration, raising questions about policy continuity, duplication of efforts, and value for money.
While acknowledging that long-term planning is essential for sustainable development, FENRAD expressed worry that successive administrations appear to be discarding existing frameworks rather than reviewing, updating, and building upon them.
Concerns Over Cost and Duplication
According to publicly available information cited by the group, the previous 30-year development plan reportedly cost the Abia State Government over ₦500 million and was prepared by external consultants. FENRAD said the newly adopted roadmap is also believed to have been developed by consultants at a significant cost to the state.
The organization warned that Abia State, grappling with fiscal constraints and pressing development needs, cannot afford repeated spending on overlapping planning documents without clear justification, public audits, and transparent implementation records.
Questions of Continuity and Institutional Memory
FENRAD faulted the absence of publicly available information detailing:
- The extent of implementation of the earlier roadmap
- Its identified shortcomings
- Which components, if any, were retained or revised in the new plan
According to the group, this lack of disclosure undermines institutional memory and raises concerns about governance continuity and accountability.
Risk of Roadmaps Becoming Political Tools
The advocacy group also cautioned that development plans risk becoming political branding instruments rather than actionable frameworks when they are not firmly linked to annual budgets, sectoral strategies, and measurable outcomes.
“A development roadmap that is not actively implemented, monitored, and reported upon ultimately becomes an expensive document with little impact on citizens’ welfare,” FENRAD stated.
Call for Transparency and Accountability
FENRAD called on the Abia State Government to:
- Publicly release both the old and new development roadmaps for citizen review
- Publish a technical and financial audit of the previous plan
- Disclose the full cost and procurement process of the new roadmap
- Demonstrate clear alignment between the roadmap and annual state budgets
- Institutionalize mechanisms to ensure continuity across political transitions
- Involve civil society, youth groups, and professional bodies in monitoring implementation
Protecting Abia’s Limited Resources
The organization emphasized that Abia State faces competing needs in education, healthcare, infrastructure, environmental protection, and youth employment, stressing that every naira spent on planning must translate into measurable development outcomes.
“Responsible governance is not measured by the number of plans produced, but by the extent to which those plans improve the lives of the people,” the group said.
Commitment to Constructive Engagement
FENRAD reaffirmed its commitment to constructive engagement with the Abia State Government and other stakeholders, urging that development roadmaps be treated as living documents anchored in accountability, rather than recurrent expenditures tied to political transitions.
The statement was signed by Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, Executive Director of FENRAD, from Umuahia, Abia State.
