The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate over 20 trillion naira worth of abandoned federal government buildings and landed properties across the country
The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate over 20 trillion naira worth of abandoned federal government buildings and landed properties across the country.
This followed the adoption of an urgent motion of national importance moved by the Minority Leader of the House, Rep. Kingsley Chinda (PDP Rivers), during plenary on Wednesday.
Chinda, in his motion, expressed concern that thousands of federal projects and buildings have been left uncompleted for decades, resulting in colossal waste of public resources and a decline in asset value.
Citing a 2021 report by the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, the lawmaker revealed that no fewer than 11,866 federal government buildings and properties have been abandoned nationwide, representing about 63 percent of all federal projects since independence.
He said: “ The Nigerian Institute of Quantity surveillance as at 23rd August 2021 came up with a large quantum of about 11,866 abandoned landed properties and buildings by the Federal government across the nation and that this has resulted in a colossal waste of resources worth over 20 trillion and about 63 percent of the federal government landed properties and buildings and projects since the nation attained independence has been abandoned without completion and many abandoned for reasons for one reason or the other.”
He listed several notable abandoned properties, including the Federal Secretariat Complex in Ikoyi, Lagos; the Nigerian International Hotel Building in Suleja, Niger State; the Millennium Tower in Abuja; the National Library Headquarters in Abuja; the NIPOST and FIRS headquarters buildings; and other federal structures spread across states like Delta, Ogun, Kaduna, Taraba, and Zamfara.
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The minority leader further recalled that the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) set up in the year 2000 under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo had yet to submit its official report on the matter, a delay he said could undermine transparency and accountability.
He argued that “with the passage of time, inflation and changes in engineering design standards have affected the viability of these projects,” adding that the Federal Government could salvage some of them through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) to prevent further decay and loss of value.
Chinda therefore urged the House to constitute a special ad-hoc committee to review the PIC’s 2000 report and verify all other abandoned federal properties since then, with a mandate to identify their current status and recommend a comprehensive recovery plan within six weeks.
However, Rep. Ahmed Jaha (APC, Borno) moved an amendment, urging that the assignment be handled by the Standing Committee on Public Assets, chaired by Rep. Ademorin Kuye, which already has jurisdiction over federal assets.
Responding, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas clarified that the House leadership had earlier discussed the issue with Rep. Kuye, who “had no objection to the creation of a special committee” due to the sensitivity and national importance of the matter.
The speaker stated, “There is no ad-hoc committee we set up that does not have a standing committee with similar jurisdiction, but because of the significance of this assignment, Hon. Kuye was consulted and he gave his blessing.”
Following deliberations, the motion was adopted by the House, paving the way for the constitution of an Ad-hoc committee to investigate all abandoned Federal Government buildings and properties across the country and recommend appropriate legislative and policy interventions and report back within six weeks.
