The House of Representatives Committee on National Planning and Economic Development on Tuesday called on the Federal Government to complete abandoned projects across the country.

Chairman of the committee, Rep. Bashir Baballe (APC-Kano) made the call when the Ministry of Budget and National Planning appeared before members of the committee to defend its 2017 Budget.

Baballe said that there were no fewer than 10, 000 abandoned projects in different parts of the country.

House of Representatives

According to the lawmaker, there is need to complete these projects so that they can be in use and contribute to the growth of the country’s economy.

“There is a case where an agency is in need of N50 million to complete an office and the same office is paying N60 million annually for rent.

“There is need to attach a lot of importance to key infrastructure development projects which are keys to national development,’’ he said.

Defending the budget, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udo Udoma, said that the ministry would concentrate on reviving only abandoned projects that were critical to salvaging the country from current recession.

According to him, the Federal Government is working on reviving abandoned projects.

“However, not everyone is required to be revived; the Federal Government will concentrate on those that fit into the policy direction of the current administration,’’ Udoma said.

He said that the total budget by the ministry and its parastatals for 2017 was N11.7 billion.

According to him, the amount is 16 per cent higher than the 2016 appropriation.

The minister added that N3.5 billion of the proposal was earmarked for capital expenditure, recurrent expenditure, N8.1 billion; N2.2 billion for overhead and N5.9 for personnel.