By Yemi Akinsuyi
The Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy & Development (FENRAD) has expressed serious concern over the recent signing into law of a 25-year Abia State Development Roadmap, coming barely four years after the unveiling of a 30-year Abia State Development Plan by the immediate past administration.
According to the Executive Director, FENRAD, Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, while the Forum recognized the importance of long-term planning as a fundamental tool for sustainable development, it is are deeply troubled by the pattern of policy discontinuity, duplication of efforts, and the recurrent expenditure of significant public funds on similar planning documents, with little evidence of implementation or continuity.
FENRAD disclosed that available public information indicated that the previous 30-year development roadmap reportedly cost the Abia State Government over ₦500 million, having been prepared by consultants, adding that the newly signed roadmap is also understood to have been developed by external consultants at significant cost to the state.
“FENRAD is concerned that Abia State, faced with serious development challenges and limited financial resources, cannot afford repeated expenditure on overlapping planning documents without transparent justification, public audits, and clear implementation records.
“Good governance requires that successive administrations build on existing policies, review them objectively, and make necessary updates rather than discarding them entirely. The absence of publicly available information on the level of implementation of the previous roadmap, its identified shortcomings, elements retained or revised in the new roadmap, raises serious questions about institutional continuity and value for money”.
FENRAD warned that development plans risk becoming political instruments for branding and media optics, rather than actionable frameworks for development, when they are not legally, financially, and institutionally tied 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 therefore called on the Abia State Government to publicly release both the previous and current development roadmaps for citizen review and comparison, publish a technical and financial audit of the earlier roadmap, detailing what was implemented and what was not disclose the full cost of the newly prepared roadmap and the procurement process involved, clearly demonstrate alignment between the new roadmap and annual state budgets, institutionalize continuity mechanisms to ensure that long-term plans survive political transitions, and engage civil society, youth groups, and professional bodies in monitoring implementation.
“Abia State operates under tight fiscal conditions, with competing needs in education, healthcare, environmental protection, infrastructure, and youth employment. Every Naira spent on planning must translate into measurable development outcomes.”
FENRAD emphasised that 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.
FENRAD said it remained committed to constructive engagement and advocacy for transparent, inclusive, and sustainable development in Abia State.
“We urge the state government to treat development roadmaps as living documents anchored in accountability, not as recurrent expenditures tied to changes in political leadership.
“We stand ready to work with the Abia State Government and relevant stakeholders to ensure that development planning in the state delivers real value to present and future generations”, it stated.
