Budget: Housing ministry to settle debts with N2bn

The Federal Ministry of Housing, Lands and Urban Development will this year spend N2 billion to settle the debts it incurred in 2012. This proposal was coded FMLH&UD01600233 in the 2014 budget recently laid before the National Assembly by the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.The budget did not provide the details of what the ministry […]

The Federal Ministry of Housing, Lands and Urban Development will this year spend N2 billion to settle the debts it incurred in 2012.
This proposal was coded FMLH&UD01600233 in the 2014 budget recently laid before the National Assembly by the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
The budget did not provide the details of what the ministry incurred these debts on, but merely presented this as one of the numerous ongoing projects of headquarters of the ministry.
The budget proposal shows that the ministry has no new project to execute this year as all the projects listed therein were tagged “ongoing”.
Details of the budget reveal that out of the total N18.513 billion allocated to the ministry for the 2014 fiscal year, N25 million will be spent on the implementation of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2011.
This is apart from the sum of N758.821 million budgeted for the Prototype Housing Scheme said to be primarily meant for civil servants.
Erstwhile Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Ms Ama Pepple, before she was sacked, had said last June at the 2013 Mid-Term Ministerial Platform that “In housing delivery, we have delivered a total of 16,447 houses made up of 238 housing units under our prototype housing scheme. The prototype housing scheme is primarily for civil servants and that is the only housing scheme in which we are giving a little money in the budget, yearly”.
Also branded as ongoing projects for the ministry in 2014 include: provision of off-site infrastructure for PPP project sites, N535m; development of infrastructure for social housing programme nationwide, N593m; urban renewal and slum upgrading programme, N300m; National Physical Development Plan, N170m; construction of file racks/archives, record office and stores, N15m; sporting activities and equipment, N20m; titling of federal lands nationwide, N20m; classification of Nigerian cities, N8m; information technology consulting, N7.5m; formulation and implementation of national land policy, N40m;
The projects also include personnel audit, staff monitoring and evaluation, N20m; quarterly verification and reporting of budget overhead cost and IGR utilisation in 36 states and budget activities, N35m; contributions to international organisations, N200m; capital project monitoring and evaluation, N70m; implementation of federal land information system, N75m; rehabilitation/repairs of estate roads and other infrastructures in various housing estates spread across states and FCT, N200m; major rehabilitation of federal secretariats in 23 state capitals, N200m; housing needs survey, N10m.
Others are: land acquisition and compensation for federal government projects, N200m; procurement advertisements in newspapers, journals and internet and other procurement activities, N30m; staff clinic supply, N15m; teaching aid/training hall, N10m; establishment of ministry’s library and purchase of library books in headquarters and field offices, N15m; purchase of law books and journals for the law library, N12m; purchase of security equipment, N50.5m; review of national building code, N10m; development and implementation of housing and urban sector road map, N27.5m; among others.