Budget Defence: Lawmakers clash over President’s housing programme

By Ibrahim Umar,

Kanempress News,

16th, January,2025

Nigerian lawmakers were at loggerheads on Wednesday over the effectiveness of the President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Housing scheme, following the heated exchange of words which trailed the budget defence of the ministry of lands, housing, and urban development.

Kanempress recalled that quarrel among the lawmakers, who are members of the Senate Committee on Land, Housing and Urban Development featured immediately after the Minister of State of the ministry, Yusuf Abdullahi Gwarzo, presented the 2024 budget performance of his ministry.

This was after chairman of the committee, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, declared the floor open for lamekers to comment.

The trouble started when lawmakers openly disagreed on the implementation of the Renewed Hope Housing project of President Tinubu administration, questioning whether the scheme was reaching ordinary citizens, the intended beneficiaries.

Kanempress gathered that the issue of contention was the feasibility of the housing project under the management of the ministry.

The session, which was on the ministry of housing’s 2024 budget, witnessed some lawmakers asking about the distinction between the Renewed Hope Housing project of President Tinubu and the National Housing Program.

While presenting the ministry 2024 budget performance, the minister had cited over 16 billion as internally generated revenue, and saying to the lawmakers that he was yet to understand the difference between the two housing projects.

‘I’m yet to understand the difference between the two,’’ he said.

The minister also spoke on the N100 billion 2023 supplementary budget utilisation, noting that ‘’the amount released so far was utilised to pay outstanding certificates of payments owed contractors for 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.”

Tensions rose when Gwarzo disclosed that over 7,500 housing units were under construction, with 3,000 completed in various regions.

Politics and political differences played out when two lawmakers, Abdul Ningi, PDP, Bauchi, and Jimoh Ibrahim, APC, Ondo South, openly disagreed on the implementation of the Renewed Hope Housing project of President Tinubu administration.

Senator Abdul Ningi said the minister could not proceed to present figures for the 2025 budget because he had questions to answer on 2024’s budget.

According to him, the ministry has a sum of N20 billion unaccounted for in the 2024 estimates and he questioned the geographical spread of the programme being coordinated by the ministry.

Ningi, however, expressed skepticism about the project’s impact and public awareness, prompting a defensive response from another lawmaker.

The differences caused confrontation briefly, disrupting the session before order was restored.

‘’This is music to our ears,” Ningi declared, expressing disbelief at the ministry’s claims of constructing 7,522 housing units nationwide,

“I’ve been a senator for over a year, and I’ve never seen or heard of these projects in my constituency. Are these housing units a reality for Nigerians or just on paper?” He queried.

He also questioned the ministry’s transparency, insisting that N22.6 billion was unaccounted for from the 2023 supplementary budget. Ningi queried further: “How can we approve the 2025 budget when the 2024 allocations remain unfulfilled?”

He subsequently demanded clarity on project locations and financial accounting. Had he stopped speaking when Senator Jimoh Ibrahim challenged him saying no one could claim not to have heard of or known about the Renewed Hope Housing programme.

Ibrahim said: “The Renewed Hope Housing programme is duly on course. The programme is fully known to Nigerians.’’

He claimed that the federal government was meant to run the programme through the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and that if it had not got to a state didn’t mean it was selective.

On reasons for the programme not fully in all states of the federation, Senator Ibrahim said the Federal Government’s 2024 budget had six more months to run.

Senator Ibrahim said: “You don’t acquire land, do surveys, and build houses in one day. The ministry was granted an extension for capital projects in 2024. Let’s wait before dismissing their efforts.”

Senator Kelvin Chukwu from Ebonyi State, quickly intervened, suggesting to the committee chairman that the minister be allowed to answer posers raised by Ninigi before further comment from any other member of the committee.

That further doused the tension.

In his remarks, Senator Seriake Dickson, who cautioned against reading partisan connotations to the concerns raised by Ningi, said there was no presence of the Renewed Hope Housing project in Bayelsa State .

Dickson suggested that the federal government be more concerned with mass rural housing programme, as most of his constituents live in rural areas.

The budget defence was quickly adjourned when the minister could not differentiate between the Renewed Hope Housing project and the National Housing Programme run by the ministry.

The minister said he was just two months in office and had not been acquainted with its workings because he was absent from office for four weeks on health ground.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, then said the committee would have preferred the substantive minister, Mr. Ahmed Kangiwa, who is away in Dubai on the entourage of President Bola Tinubu, to personally present the 2025 budget.

Following the heated exchange, the committee chairman excused Gwarzo, directing him to return on Tuesday to provide detailed information on the impact of the housing initiatives.

‘’This committee will not tolerate half-baked presentations. You must come back on Monday with detailed reports,” Tambuwal warned.