New Telegraph

Housing Projects: FG Owes Contractors N92bn — Minister

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, yesterday, disclosed that the ministry was owing 6,455 contractors N92 billion for work done in the 2024 fiscal year.

The minister, who was represented by the Minister of State, Mr Yusuf Attah, made the disclosure to the Senate Committee on Housing and Urban Development, during the 2024 budget defence and 2025 budget presentation at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.

Attah also disclosed that the ministry recorded N6.232 billion in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in 2024, attributing the low IGR to “insecurity across the country and the high inflationary trend experienced throughout the year”.

On the outstanding liabilities, the minister said: “Many contractors have executed their jobs duly certified for payment but not paid, leaving the ministry with huge outstanding liabilities to the tune of N92,661,800,243.9. Many of these contractors are indebted to their banks, having borrowed the funds to execute the jobs.”

The minister also gave insight into the N100 billion 2023 supplementary budget utilisation, saying: “The amount released so far was utilised to pay out- standing certificates of payments owed to contractors for various projects such as the Renewed Hope Housing Cities and estates, completion of the National Housing Programme, construction and rehabilitation of federal secretariats and general improvements of infrastructure across the country.”

Attah explained that the Renewed Hope Housing Scheme and Cities Programme and National Housing Programme, was a total of “7,522 housing units spread across the 35 states of the federation and the FCT, which have been under construction, out of which 3,388 have been completed, while 4,134 units are still ongoing.”

Senators, who attended the session, expressed concern over the visibility of the projects he mentioned in his performance report as he could not explain the difference between the Renewed Hope Housing Scheme and Cities Programme and the National Housing Programme, claiming that he was new in the ministry.

Agitated by the position of the minister, Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Central) sought to know where the projects were located because he had never seen any Renewed Hope Housing Unit in the whole of Bauchi State and his constituency in particular. “This is music to our ears,” he said, adding that: “This is very strange to us. I am from Bauchi State. I represent Bauchi State, I don’t know where you are doing this project, I don’t know how. Here I am representing the very good people of Bauchi Central.

I have been here for up to one and a half years as a Senator, and I’ve no knowledge at all of this Re- newed Hope Housing. Is this Renewed Hope only to you or to Nigerians? Even as you’re not reporting details of what you’re doing, are you reporting details to Nigerians? Do Nige- rians know of some of these things?”

He also expressed concern over some exclusions in the budget, especially the recur- rent component of the 2024 budget. He also sought clarification on the whereabouts of N22.6 billion outstanding from the N100 billion since the minister said N77 billion, or 77.3 per cent, has been expended so far from the 2023 supplementary budget.

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