HOW NIGERIA NEEDS US$100BILLION ANNUALLY TO FIX INFRASTRUCTURE

The Director General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, says Nigeria needs a minimum of $100 billion annually to fix the infrastructural needs of the country.

Mr Akabueze said the funding must come from both government and private entities to meet the annual target of infrastructural investments.

He stated this on Wednesday during the induction of members-elect of the National Assembly in Abuja.

Mr Akabueze said both the federal and subnational governments have not been able to meet the annual $100 billion target.

“First, to be able to fix the infrastructural needs of the country, we need to be spending about 100 billion dollars annually as a country, including private spending on infrastructure.

“The aggregate budget of the federal government is only about 30 billion dollars and the aggregate of the states and FCT budget don’t even add up to the federal budget. This means that even if we spend everything, we will still be left with a huge infrastructural deficit,” he said.

While explaining the concept of budgeting to the members-elect, Mr Akabueze bemoaned the lack of organic law on budgeting in Nigeria.

He, however, added that there is a bill on budgeting in the National Assembly, noting that the current Assembly should try to pass it before the Assembly adjourns sina dine.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria does not have an organic budget law. It is really unfortunate that we don’t have an organic budget law. Hopefully, there is one in the work in the 9th Assembly and may be passed before the Assembly winds up. I don’t know any serious country in the world that does not have an organic budget law,” Mr Akabueze said.

The induction of the members-elect of the National Assembly involves training on legislative practices, norms and procedures.