The 2025 housing budget allocated by the Federal Government has raised concerns about its alignment with President Bola Tinubu’s campaign promises, writes JOSEPHINE OGUNDEJI

With a total allocation of N98.13bn to the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, stakeholders argue that this figure falls short of expectations and contradicts the President’s earlier commitments to address the nation’s housing deficit.

Despite the government’s pledge to tackle the nation’s housing challenges through its Renewed Hope Agenda, the allocation underscores the widening gap between policy aspirations and financial prioritisation.

Out of the total budget, N88.14 bn has been allocated for capital projects, N8.78 bn for personnel costs, and N1.2 bn for overhead costs. A notable portion, N11.5 bn, is earmarked for constructing 20,000 housing units under the Renewed Hope Agenda. However, the project’s scale and timeline raise questions about its feasibility, as only 13,612 units are currently under development through the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates initiative, leaving the remaining units dependent on the 2025 budget for financing.

The proposed housing projects include the development of 250 housing units per site across 12 states, representing each geopolitical zone: Yobe and Gombe (North-East), Nasarawa and Benue (North-Central), Sokoto and Katsina (North-West), Abia and Ebonyi (South-East), and Delta and Akwa Ibom (South-South), totalling 3,000 units. Larger urban housing developments are also planned in the Federal Capital Territory (3,112 units), Kano (2,000 units), and Lagos (2,000 units), with additional projects underway in Enugu, Borno, Rivers, and Nasarawa. A significant portion of these units has reportedly reached advanced stages of construction, but doubts linger over the sector’s capacity to meet the 20,000-unit target within the projected timeframe.

When compared to the 2024 budget, which allocated N99.92 bn to housing, the 2025 budget reflects a marginal reduction. While recurrent expenditure in 2024 consumed N2.99 bn, capital projects received a higher allocation of N96.99 bn.

Notably, the Renewed Hope Agenda housing scheme received N18.2 bn, while the Federal Government’s national housing programme was allocated N8.49 bn, highlighting a more focused approach to housing initiatives. However, with escalating construction costs and over 80 per cent of Nigerians unable to afford homes due to low-to-medium income levels, the 2025 budget appears grossly inadequate for bridging the nation’s significant housing deficit.

Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, had earlier called for a substantial increase in the housing budget to N500 bn yearly starting from 2025, emphasising that the current annual allocation of N50 bn was grossly inadequate compared to the estimated N5.5 trn required annually to address the housing shortfall.

He said, “Therefore, this would allow us to expand housing projects to cover the remaining 18 states and increase the unit count per state from 250 to at least 500; financing housing construction is expensive. So, we have devised creative and diversified funding strategies to create an impact under the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President.

“While pursuing public-private partnerships, the government must also increase funding for the Renewed Hope Housing Programme. As a ministry, we have championed this advocacy, and there is now widespread recognition that the current N50bn annual budget for housing is grossly inadequate compared to the N5.5 trn required annually to address the housing deficit.

“Therefore, we have engaged the National Assembly leadership and received their support for increasing the annual housing budget to a minimum of N500bn, starting with the 2025 budget cycle,” he affirmed.

https://punchng.com/housing-budget-defies-tinubus-campaign-promises/