(DDM) – The House of Representatives has launched a fresh investigation into the controversial $460 million Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) project initiated under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, which remains uncompleted more than a decade after funds were secured.
Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) gathered that the renewed inquiry followed a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Hon. Amobi Ogah, who represents Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency of Abia State.
Ogah told lawmakers that the project, intended to boost national security and surveillance across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has become a failed venture despite the massive public funds committed to it.
He noted that insecurity in Abuja, including a rise in kidnappings, robberies, and other violent crimes, makes it imperative to revisit what he described as “a failed national security investment.”
According to him, the Jonathan administration in 2010 approved the installation of CCTV cameras across strategic locations in the capital city to enhance security monitoring and emergency response.
He explained that then-Finance Minister Dr. Olusegun Aganga led a high-powered Federal Government delegation to Beijing, China, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with ZTE Communications, a Chinese technology firm awarded the contract for the CCTV installation.
Ogah further disclosed that the project was financed through a $460 million loan from the China-EXIM Bank, taken from a $600 million soft credit facility with a ten-year grace period before repayment commenced.
Despite the financial commitment, Ogah lamented that there is no visible trace of the CCTV infrastructure across Abuja, and the federal government continues to service the debt on a project that has yielded no security benefit.
“The House is concerned that Nigeria is already repaying the loan for a non-functional CCTV project undertaken by a Chinese contractor, leaving the country in a lose-lose situation,” he said.
Lawmakers across party lines supported the motion, with several members demanding accountability for what they described as one of Nigeria’s most glaring cases of mismanaged foreign loans.
Hon. Billy Osawaru from Edo State emphasised the need for stricter legislative oversight, warning that failure to probe such wasteful projects undermines public trust in government.
“The House must carry out serious oversight in the interest of Nigerians,” Osawaru stated. “We must discourage a culture of impunity and financial recklessness.”
Hon. Ahmad Jaha, representing Gwoza/Damboa/Chibok Federal Constituency of Borno State, called for a full-scale investigation into how the funds were spent, questioning why the security cameras are non-existent despite the huge loan.
“A lot of money was spent to procure CCTVs, but they are nowhere to be found,” Jaha lamented.
DDM recalls that this is not the first time the National Assembly is probing the controversial project. In 2019, the 9th House of Representatives queried the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) over the same issue, but the investigation yielded no conclusive findings.
In May 2023, a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Federal Government to release detailed information on how the $460 million was utilised, following a lawsuit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.
The court’s ruling directed the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Ministry of Interior, and the ONSA to provide a comprehensive account of the project’s implementation, expenditure, and status, an order that, to date, remains largely unfulfilled.
The CCTV project, first conceived as part of a national security upgrade after a wave of bombings in Abuja between 2009 and 2011, was touted as a major technological step toward crime prevention.
It was expected to cover 25 key areas of the city, including the Central Business District, the airport road corridor, and major government facilities.
However, more than ten years later, no operational cameras exist, and reports indicate that even the installed structures have fallen into disrepair or were never activated.
Critics argue that the project symbolises Nigeria’s chronic governance failure, where ambitious public security projects are launched with fanfare but end in debt, neglect, and impunity.
As the House resumes its investigation, analysts told DDM that this renewed inquiry will test the current administration’s political will to hold past and present officials accountable for abandoned multi-million-dollar contracts that continue to burden Nigeria’s economy.