New policies, abandoned projects hurting Nigeria devt — ex-Adamawa gov

n n

A former Governor of Adamawa State, Boni Haruna, has said that Nigeria’s widening infrastructure deficit is caused by “discontinuity of policies,” not insufficient funding.

n

Haruna made the observation on Thursday in Abuja in a goodwill message on Day 2 of the 2026 Infrastructure Dialogue.

n

The event is themed: “Building Nigeria’s Future: The Strategic Role of DFIs and Capital Markets in Infrastructure Financing and Economic Development.”

n

The former governor decried the culture of abandoning projects, noting that political interests often override the long-term nature of infrastructure development.

n

“Infrastructure takes time to evolve. There are many abandoned projects in the country because successive governments often execute different projects from their predecessors,” he said.

n

Haruna, therefore, called for the “legislation of continuity” on critical national projects for successive administrations.

n

“Once a project passes Federal Executive Council and National Assembly approval, it should be binding. Some countries like South Africa succeeded because their programmes are backed by essential laws, not just policy.

n

“The country must also insulate technical institutions like the Bank of Industry (BOI) from political control,” he added.

n

Convener of the Dialogue and Managing Partner of Deutsche Partners Holdings (DPH), Dr Onuoha Nnachi, identified “contract overpricing” as a “cancer” eating away at Nigeria’s development.

n

Nnachi shared the 21-year-old experience of a power project whose value was inflated from 6.2 billion naira to 26 billion naira during the approval process, while mobilisation fees were increased from 15 per cent to 50 per cent.

n

“Contract overpricing is cancerous to Nigeria’s infrastructure. I can use a soil type definition to increase the cost of a one-kilometre road from two billion to five billion naira, and there is nothing you can do about it.

n

“If we don’t tell ourselves the truth as Nigerians, we cannot solve this peculiar problem. We must move from fragmented efforts to coordinated, prudent financial management,” Nnachi stated.

n

He lauded the Nasarawa State Governor, Engr Abdullahi Sule, for his prudence, noting that the state had attracted over two billion dollars in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through transparent leadership.

n

The Executive Director, Small and Medium Enterprises of the Bank of Industry (BOI), Mr Toyin Edu, emphasised that the fiscal capacity of the government alone cannot bridge the funding gap.

n

Edu disclosed that the BOI had received board approval to embark on a one billion dollar loan syndication in phases to bolster infrastructure financing in Nigeria.

n

“Infrastructure is the backbone of our economic success. We are currently partnering with telecom giants to deploy fibre optic cables and working on port projects to facilitate trade.

n

“The Bank of Industry is ready and willing to support alternative financing to ensure these projects are realised,” Edu said.

n

The dialogue continues with panel sessions featuring experts from the capital market and development finance institutions aimed at unlocking domestic savings for national growth.

n

(NAN)

n n