Works, Housing, Power gulp N389bn of 2020 budget

The ministries of Works and Housing, Power and Transportation gulped a chunk of the 2020 budget presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly on Tuesday.

The Works and Housing (262 billion), Power N127 billion and Transportation (N123 billion) reiterated the government’s resolve to focus and capitalise on capital projects.

President Buhari said although government’s actual spending has reduced, it plans to leverage on private sector funding through our tax credit schemes will ensure our capital programmes are sustained.

“For example, we launched the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, pursuant to which I have approved the construction and rehabilitation of 19 Nigerian roads and bridges of 794.4km across 11 states,” he said.

“Indeed, the scheme has attracted private investment of over N205 billion and the first set of tax credits are being processed by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

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“As I mentioned during my Independence Day Speech, under the Presidential Power Initiative, we will modernise the national grid in 3 phases; starting from 5 gigawatts to 7 gigawatts, then to 11 gigawatts by 2023, and finally 25 gigawatts afterwards in collaboration with the German government and Siemens.”

Below is the breakdown by the President

Universal Basic Education Commission: N112 billion;

Defence: N100 billion;

Zonal Intervention Projects: N100 billion;

Agriculture and Rural Development: N83 billion;

Water Resources: N82 billion;

Niger Delta Development Commission: N81 billion;

Education: N48 billion;

Health: N46 billion;

Industry, Trade and Investment: N40 billion;

North East Development Commission: N38 billion;

Interior: N35 billion;