The House of Representatives has taken steps to trace and recover thousands of abandoned Federal Government buildings scattered across the country, a problem lawmakers say has drained public resources for decades.
During Wednesday’s plenary, Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) raised a motion calling attention to over 11,000 neglected federal properties, many of which are sitting unused, vandalised or left to decay. The estimated value of the assets is pegged at more than N20 trillion.
Quoting constitutional provisions that empower the National Assembly to investigate public spending, Chinda said a 2021 report by the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors identified roughly 11,866 abandoned federal projects nationwide – almost two-thirds of all projects initiated since independence.
Some of the major properties highlighted include the long-abandoned Federal Secretariat in Ikoyi, the stalled Millennium Tower project in Abuja, the uncompleted Nigerian International Hotel in Suleja, the National Library headquarters in Abuja, the Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Company in Kaduna and the Aluminium Smelting Company in Delta State.
He noted that the Presidential Implementation Committee on Federal Government Properties, set up in 2000 to audit and manage such assets, has still not submitted its final report 25 years later. According to him, this silence has raised fresh concerns about transparency and accountability.
Chinda warned that years of neglect have caused severe structural depreciation, while inflation and outdated engineering designs have further slashed their value. He advised the government to deploy strategic public–private partnerships to revive and commercialise some of the viable properties.
After debates, the House unanimously adopted the motion. An ad hoc committee will now be constituted to review previous findings, verify the status of the assets and recommend recovery options, including private sector participation.
The committee is expected to report back to the House within six weeks for further legislative action.
