The Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi, and his  Housing and Urban Development counterpart, Ahmed Dangiwa, appealed to the National Assembly for increased budget allocations to deliver on their ministries’ mandates.

The labour minister called for more budgetary allocation for 2025 to enable the ministry to scale up the performance of key areas of its mandate.

Dingyadi noted that the fund would be particularly used to renovate, reconstruct, and re-equip the skills development centres under the ministry and its agencies across the country, aimed at generating employment.

A statement by the ministry’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Patience Onuobia, said Dingyadi spoke in Abuja at the 2025 Budget Defence meetings with the House Committee and the Senate Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity, respectively.

Patience said the minister noted that the total budgetary allocation of N46bn for the ministry and its parastatals this year would not be sufficient to attain set objectives.

“One of the key priorities of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda is job creation, which falls under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. For us to achieve this noble objective, we need special funds to renovate, reconstruct, and re-equip the skills development centres under the ministry and its agencies across the country.

“We are aware that many of the infrastructural projects in this year’s budget can be used to create jobs for our teeming youths. However, over 60% of such jobs are unskilled jobs that are not sustainable. Once the project is completed, many of them will go back to becoming unemployed.

“The best solution to unemployment is the creation of skilled jobs with starter packs, where trainees will set up their own self-sustaining jobs to contribute to the economic growth of the nation,” the minister was quoted as saying.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity, Senator Diket Plang, stated that the ministry deserved a boost to its budgetary allocation to enable it to function effectively.

Speaking, the Chairman, House Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity, Adefarati Adegboyega, emphasised the significant role of skill development in the economic growth of the nation.

He noted that sustainable employment programmes, such as skill development, would provide a permanent solution to unemployment, unlike occasional palliatives that only offer temporary relief.

On his part, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, urged the Senate Committee on Housing to allocate more funding to the ministry to execute seven critical programmes of the housing sector.

He named the projects to include the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Housing Programme, Slump Upgrading and Urban Renewal Programme.

“I wish to request that the distinguished chairman and members of this very important committee use their good offices to increase the budgetary allocation in seven key areas.

“This is because these areas are very critical to the transformative policies and programmes of Mr President to put the economy on the part of recovery and growth.

“It is pertinent to state here that in the 2024 fiscal year, the sum of N162.61bn was allocated to our Ministry, which amount is considered inadequate.

“Yet, we have been given an envelope of N83.75bn in 2025 as the ministry’s capital budget ceiling for 2025 which is a far cry from even the 2024 Appropriation,” he said.

He stated that the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Housing Programme was designed to be a catalyst for economic growth.

“The construction and development of these new areas will generate employment opportunities, stimulate local businesses and attract investments.

“The 50,000 units planned to deliver under phase I will create 1, 250, 000 direct and indirect construction jobs for architects, engineers, plumbers, iron benders, masons etc.

“This is in addition to the value chain effect of purchase, supply of building materials and other businesses.

“Currently, we have covered 12 States and would like to cover 18 States at 250 units per site. The amount needed to achieve this is N108bn at N6bn per state,” he added.

Dangiwa also stated that the “Slump Upgrading and Urban Renewal Programme” requires increased budgetary allocation.

“Currently, there are ongoing programmes in four states of each geo-political zone including the Federal Capital Territory.

“This means four sites in four states of each geo-political zone including four sites in FCT, bringing the total to 100 sites. At least N100bn is needed for better results to be achieved,” he said.

Dangiwa further said that the ministry was exposed to huge amounts of liabilities amounting to projects completed, duly certified for payments before the end of the budgetary year but were not paid due to limited time.

“There is the need to make adequate provision for liabilities to enable the ministry to reduce the amount of liabilities it is exposed to.

“The ministry has over N92bn liabilities but would need nothing less than N60bn in the 2025 budget proposal to reduce the exposure,” Dangiwa said.

Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Housing, Aminu Tambuwal, assured the minister of support to tackle the issues of liabilities incurred.

“We will support you by making sure that we can work together to see how best we can approach the Minister of Finance, the budget office, and even the Presidency.

“How best we can really get this debt relief on the part of the ministry and on the part of our contractors?” he asked.