On Wednesday, Barrister Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) went to the National Assembly to defend the FCT’s N1.78 trillion 2025 statutory budget.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had earlier presented the budget through a letter he sent to the two chambers of the National Assembly.
In the letter, the president had proposed N1.78 trillion as 2025 statutory budget for the nation’s capital, earmarking N1,289,690,124,77, which represents 72.30 per cent of the budget for capital expenditure, while the remaining 27.70 per cent, totalling N494,133,583,616 was for recurrent expenditure.
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FCDA, infrastructure take lion’s share
While defending the budget before the two chambers of the National Assembly, the FCT minister gave the detailed overview of the capital budget estimates to include key allocations of N80 billion for SUKUK loan projects, N25 billion for the Abuja Light Rail project, N15 billion for Abuja Greater Water Supply, and N250 billion from commercial loans to complete ongoing capital projects in the FCC and satellite towns.
According to him, the remaining N919,690,124,776 was dedicated to the completion of ongoing capital projects and counterpart-funded initiatives aimed at boosting socio-economic activities across the FCT.
Further breakdown of the capital expenditure showed that N801.5 billion was allocated to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), N137 billion to the STDD, and N351.2 billion to other Secretariats, Departments, and Agencies (SDAs) for their capital expenditures and selected new projects.
Wike emphasised that the 2025 capital budget prioritises the completion of critical ongoing infrastructure projects. These, he said, include the completion of roads B6 and B12, full scope development of Arterial Road N20, provision of engineering infrastructure to Guzape, Wuye, and Maitama II Districts, extension of Inner Southern Expressway (ISEX), and full scope development of FCT Highway 105 (Kuje Road).
He listed other projects to include the construction of Northern Parkway from Ring Road II to Ring Road III, full scope development of Arterial Road N20 from Arterial Road N5, rehabilitation of Old Keffi Road, full scope development of Arterial Road N1, and provision of access roads to Bus Terminals. Additionally, the upgrading of Ushafa War College/Army Check Point Road, the construction of Pai-Gomani Road, and dualisation of Kuje-Gwagwalada Road are also included.
On recurrent expenditure, N150,353,906,168 (8.43 per cent of the total) was proposed for personnel costs, while overhead cost was allocated N343,779,448 (19.27 per cent).
Sectoral highlights of the FCT’s 2025 statutory budget proposal showed that infrastructural sector (Roads, Districts Development and Public Buildings) was allocated the sum of N383.5 billion, transportation sector has a provision of the sum of N79.3 billion, education sector has a budgetary proposal of N181 billion while the health sector has a proposed sum of N54 billion in the year 2025.
Other sectors, such has environment, was allocated the sum of N22.9 billion, Water sector got the sum of N37.4 billion, agriculture got the sum of N8.3 billion, social development sector got the sum of N23.7 billion, legal services got N7.7 billion, land administration got N1.5 billion while Area Councils Services Secretariat was allocated the sum of N3.1 billion.
Why the budget may not address rots in health, agric sectors
Mrs Yemisi Ogundipe, an economist, said the sectorial allocation of the budget might not address critical problems facing the health sector, especially in the rural areas, the education sector, especially fixing the decay infrastructure in schools as well as in agriculture, where many farmers don’t have access to necessary inputs.
Mrs Ogundipe said the N54 billion set aside for the health sector might not be enough to address the enormous challenge in the sector.
According to her, fillers from the hospitals indicate that most of the hospitals lack the necessary facilities including enough bed spaces.
A medical doctor in one of the hospitals, who craved anonymity, said the situation was worst in the rural communities, where the infrastructure, medical equipment is nearly zero.
He said for any meaningful impact on the health sector in the nation’s capital to be noticeable, there must be a deliberate attempt by those managing the territory to spend more.
The medical doctor said all the rots cannot be addressed in one physical budget, the amount set aside in this year’s budget might not be able to achieve much.
She said, ‘’Are you talking about the equipment in the secondary hospitals, that is the districts’ hospitals or the near absence of infrastructure at primary health care centres in the rural communities? From this amount, how much are you going to release for special health interventions like polio immunisation, subsidy for ante-natal health services, malarial interventions and so on. So, the sector needs more but at least they have improved than the previous years.’’
Stakeholders in the agriculture sector believe that the N8.3 billion set aside for agriculture in the budget is grossly inadequate for any meaningful intervention.
Mallam Abdul Nasiru, a large-scale farmer in Bwari, told Abuja Metro that in recent years, the farmers have not been getting meaningful assistance from the FCT Administration.
He said last year, the little intervention in form of inputs that came for the agric department of the Administration was not only inadequate but came late.
He said agric sector is one of the important sectors that the minister should pay attention to because it guarantees food stability
He said, ‘’Let me tell you this N8 billion or so that the FCTA is budgeting for agriculture is grossly inadequate. The cost of tractors and other farm implements have gone up, how much are you going to buy the other inputs like seeds and fertiliser and subsidise them for the farmers, all these require more money.
‘’Remember, crop farming is just one of the components of agriculture. What intervention are you going to give those in the poultry subsector, the fish, bee farmers, the livestock farmers and so on. So, how do you expect N8 billion to take care of all these?
The farmer called on the minister to make a deliberate attempt in next year’s budget to address many challenges facing agriculture in the nation’s capital.
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