The House of Representatives on Wednesday constituted an ad hoc committee to investigate over N20trn abandoned public properties and buildings across the country.
Representatives Daniel Amos from Kaduna state and Lanre Oladebo from Osun state will serve as Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the ad hoc committee as announced by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abass during the plenary.
This was sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by the minority leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) at plenary on Wednesday.
Moving the motion, Chinda noted that the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors as of 2021, came up with a large quantum of about 11,866 abandoned landed properties and buildings owned by the federal government across the nation which resulted into a colossal waste of resources worth over N20 trillion.
The lawmaker also said about 63% of the federal government’s landed properties and buildings and projects since the nation attained independence in 1960 have been abandoned without completion for one reason or the other.
He identified affected properties as Federal Secretariat Complex in Ikoyi, Lagos; Millennium Tower, Abuja; National Library, Abuja; Nigerian International Hotel Building, Suleja, Niger State; NIPOST headquarter building, Abuja; FIRS headquarters building, Abia State; National Library Building, Abuja, Nigerian New Spring Manufacturing Company Building, Kaduna; Kaduna Textile Building; Nigerian Iron Melting Company, Delta State; among others.
Chinda expressed worry that; “since the year 2000, when the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) under President Olusegun Obasanjo administration was set up, the official report of the committee has not been submitted up till date. This can jeopardise the accuracy and accountability of the said PIC reports.
“The fact that several years after majority of these landed properties and building foundations were laid, by now, market inflation and engineering design would have been affected. Hence, the federal government can rescue some of the landed properties and building and projects through private-public partnership to avoid continuous wastage and weakening of the structures and loss of value.”
Adopting the motion, the House set up an ad-hoc committee to review the PIC Report conducted in year 2000, as well as verify reports of other properties abandoned since year 2000 in order to identify the state of the properties and report infractions in six weeks for further legislative action.
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