…Says Inflation, Huge Deficit Render Current Budget Insignificant
…Allocation for Housing Development Not Free Money but Profitable Investment, Says Minister
The Senate Committee on Lands, Housing, and Urban Development has thrown its support to the push by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa for N500 Billion in annual allocation to support the implementation of the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates programme.
Reacting to the Minister’s briefing during an oversight invitation by the committee, the Chairman, Sen. Aminu Tambuwal, assured the Minister of full support to ensure he achieves the mandate of the Ministry, especially in the area of housing development.
Also reacting, the Vice Chairman, Sen. Victor Umeh noted that the case for N500 Billion by the Minister is justified, considering the huge housing deficit in the country, inflationary trends, and troubling foreign exchange. “At the end of the day, even that N500 Billion may not be able to do so much,” he said.
Earlier in his briefing, Arc. Dangiwa noted that budgetary provision for the housing and urban sector has not matched the housing and urban development needs of the nation for many years.
“There is a massive historic mismatch between the housing and urban development needs of our country versus budgetary provision. Rough statistics show that we need an annual increase in housing stock of about 550,000 units over the next ten years to meet the need. This would require about N5.5 trillion per annum.
“We are aware that all these cannot come from the Government and are working on Public Private Partnerships and other sources of housing finance. But the government needs to do more,” he said.
While he noted the transformative efforts of the Ministry in the last one year, he decried the insufficient allocation. “In the 2023 Supplementary budget we got N100bn. In 2024 we received approval for about N80bn. This is a far cry from what is needed to make a difference.
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“I am taking the opportunity to make a solemn request for your consideration, Distinguished Senators, for the provision of a minimum of N500bn Budgetary Allocation Per Annum to the Ministry. This is less than 10% of the N5.5Trn annual requirement for tackling Nigeria’s housing challenge. It is important to state that this is not free money but a profitable investment. The houses will be built, sold and the money returned back to government over time. This is besides the jobs that will be created and the boost to the national economy.
“I must emphasize that money spent in housing development is not wasted money. It is an economic, social and security investment in our country. Housing is a catalyst for economic development, job creation and it should be prioritized alongside works, roads and bridges. In fact, over 80% of the money deployed to housing comes back in terms of value to the economy and national development,” he said.
The Minister further noted that housing development is a key catalyst for job creation, lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty, and helping to achieve a $1 Trillion economy, which are key priorities of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Dangiwa further took out time to brief the lawmakers on the milestones achieved by the Ministry since his appointment in August 2023, including the flag-off for a total of 6,612 housing units across 13 states and the Federal Capital Territory since the launch of the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates programme by President Bola Tinubu in February 2024. Most of the units are slated to be completed by the end of 2024.
He noted that, although the plan was to build 500 housing units in each of the 30 states as Renewed Hope Estates, budgetary constraints have forced the Ministry to limit it to 250 units per state in the meantime.
Other key milestones are Slum Upgrade and Urban Renewal programme taking place in 26 locations across the country, as well as the inauguration of Four Reforms Task Teams to entrench synergy between housing institutions, enhance their housing delivery capacities, develop actionable blueprints for implementing land reforms and establishing a National Land Commission, as well as set up modalities for establishing Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs in the six (6) geopolitical zones of the country.
Other members of the committee urged the Minister to rapidly expand the programme to accommodate more states not captured in the first round of Ground-breaking exercises, with the Minister emphasizing that the only criteria for siting the projects is the provision of free, unencumbered land by the state governments.
