From an aggregate expenditure of N10.33 trillion proposed by the Federal Government for 2020, a total of N262 billion was appropriated to the Works and Housing Ministry, according to a budget proposal presented by a joint section of the National Assembly on Tuesday by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Though that is the highest allocation in the budget appropriation, it is still, clearly, a drop of water in the ocean, given the deep rot in the roads infrastructure and the housing deficit in the country.
Works and Housing are two big and strategic ministries rolled into one. Until August this year when President Buhari inaugurated his cabinet and unbundled the ministry, Power was part of it.
In the current 2019 fiscal year, the ministry of Power, Works and Housing has budget allocation of N428.4 billion. This is higher than the N127 billion appropriated for Power and the N262 billion for works and housing put together by about N39 billion.
This means that Nigerians will still have more days and years to endure collapsed roads infrastructure in the country. It also means that those who are hoping that through government’s policies and programmes in the housing sector they will be able to own homes will have to endure more days before their dreams are realized.
Government has explained that the reduction in its actual spending is because it plans to leverage private sector funding through tax credit schemes to ensure its capital programmes are sustained
But private sector operators are skeptical of government’s said plans, saying that Nigerian government is not known to work well with the private sector.
Wale Babalakin, Chairman/CEO of Bi-Courtney Limited, says public private partnership (PPP) initiative is under threat in Nigeria because government officials do not respect terms of contracts and agreements, but see private investors in public infrastructure as either competitors or inferior partners.
Roads infrastructure in Nigeria are in terrible condition. They need huge capital deployment to fix them. That kind of money is a lot bigger than what the federal government has appropriated for two giant ministries that are in deficit.
It remains to be seen how far the government’s Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme can go even though the president has approved the construction and rehabilitation of 19 Nigerian roads and bridges measuring 794.4km across 11 states through the scheme.
“Indeed, the scheme has attracted private investment of over N205 billion and the first set of tax credits are being processed by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning,” the president said.
CHUKA UROKO
