On Thursday, the Senate established an ad hoc committee to investigate the number of abandoned projects across the country.
This decision came after the Senate adopted a motion presented by Senator Jimoh Ibrahim (APC-Ondo), highlighting the need to examine the 11,856 mega projects abandoned by the federal government.
In his presentation, Senator Ibrahim noted that in 2011, former President Goodluck Jonathan created a presidential committee to address abandoned projects in Nigeria. The committee visited all 36 states and identified 11,866 projects that had been abandoned since the country’s independence.
The reports revealed that 63 percent of all projects initiated since independence had been abandoned. Senator Ibrahim also pointed out that even successfully completed projects typically faced cost overruns of about 40 percent and underperformed by around 10 percent.
He emphasized that the rate of project abandonment in Nigeria, at 63 percent, is worse than in any other country for comparison.
“The abandonment of the project is of significant concern because of project costs which constitute a significant part of the GDP. ”
He said what was key was the need to look inward at the infrastructure development as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) declined from 8.8billion dollars in 2011 to 3.3 billion dollars in 2019.
He said that government had the responsibility to set up a professional system that would deliver the critical value from major infrastructure development for its citizens .
He said that for 66 per cent projects to be abandoned since 1960 was nothing less than a calamity that reduced Nigeria”s pride as a ‘Giant of Africa’.
He said that projects like the National Library, Lagos Badagry Express Road, Calabar Power Plant, Zungery Dam, Mambilla site, Otiukpo Dam, Nigeria Satellite, Nitel, Calabar sea Port, Abuja mass housing project to mention but few have remained abandoned till date.
He said project abandonment was a syndrome of national development particularly when it was centred on basic infrastructure as over 66 per cent of ghe government projects had been abandoned since Nigeria’s independence in 1960.
In his contribution, Sen. Orji Kalu (APC -Abia) said Nigeria cannot industrialise without steel production.
“We should face steel production, If we don’t face it, we are wasting our time,if you check our debt repayment, it is coming on this project.
“Why would Nigeria be suffering on what ought to have been done? We are supposed to convert that our money and build these industries for debt repayment on them and save the the interest we pay.
“We should appeal to President Bola Tinubu, may be in 2026, 2027 budgets, we dedicate it to all these industries.
” They are our own. If we do not do it we will not move forward,” he said.
Sen. Isah Jibrin (APC -Kogi) said the abandoned projects should be properly profiled and the viable ones be sold to bring return on investment.
The Senate also in its resolution recommended appropriate actions to be taken to reduce project abandonment in Nigeria and how most of the projects can be recovered.
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, in his remarks urged the committee to turn in its report in one month.
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