REVISITING PROJECT CHARTERING: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF ITS INFLUENCE ON PROJECT GOVERNANCE AND PERFORMANCE.

Abstract

Agricultural interventions are vital for food security in Jos, Plateau State, often initiated through formal project charters intended to guide execution. However, these interventions frequently face performance failures, characterized by financial leakage and scope creep. This study investigates the governance of these projects to address the "institutional decoupling" the significant gap between the formal signing of project charters and their frequent abandonment during political transitions. The study employed a mixed-methods research design, surveying a sample of 110 stakeholders and utilizing regression analysis to evaluate the influence of charter governance on project performance. Findings reveal that 61.5% of the variance in project failures is directly attributable to the lack of strict charter enforcement and high levels of political interference. Qualitative evidence further corroborates this, highlighting how bureaucratic bypasses in procurement and systemic delays in critical input disbursement such as the 2018 tractor intervention directly undermine the agronomic viability of these projects. It is recommended that the Plateau State Government formalizes project charters as legally binding instruments integrated into the state’s multi-year fiscal framework. Implementing legislative "ring-fencing" protocols would insulate project funding from discretionary political interference, ensuring continuity across administrative cycles.