The Managing Director, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr Aminu Sadiq has disclosed that the agency has directed over $500 million towards domestic infrastructure initiatives, along with a significant investment of over $1 billion in third-party projects.
He said this at an investigative hearing by the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the activities of the NSIA since it’s inception in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to Mr. Sadiq, the NSIA’s investment portfolio spans key sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and power. He stated that the agency has also established more than 10 institutions and platforms to strengthen the financial market ecosystem.
He said NSIA initiated a 10 Megawatt solar panel project set to generate around 500 jobs. In addition, the agency is actively involved in the construction of 13,504 affordable housing units and the support of over 236,000 farmers.
He also said the net assets growth of the three agencies has grown from N156 billion names in 2013 to N1. 017 trillion as of the end of 2022.
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Also speaking at the meeting, the Director-Geberal, Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) said that Local Government Areas in the country were mere appendages of the states and not a federating unit and cannot technically be direct beneficiaries of funds from the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).
Speaking through the Executive Director, Strategy and Research, Lateef Shittu, Director General of the ForumEnd, A. B Okuaru said since the states are satisfied with the operations of the NSIA, the local government cannot claim not to be aware of projects being carried out by the agency.
He said technically, the states were real owners of the NSIA since they control over 54 percent of the shares of the agency alongside the local government.
He was responding to the presentation of the National President of the Association of Local Government Of Nigeria, Mr Kolade David Alabi that the local government councils were not aware of the activities of the NSIA.
He said by the composition of the NSIA, the Federal Government and the FACT has about 49.96 per cent of the investment, while the 36 states and their local government control about 54 per cent, saying “the states and local government are the real owners only NSIA because we are the majority shareholders.”
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He disclosed that in 2022, the governors requested a presentation on the operations of the NSIA from the management, adding that “we were satisfied with the presentation and what they are doing.
“If you look at the constitution, the country is run as a federal system. We have only two federation units- the Federal and State government.
“The local government is not a federating unit, but an appendage of the states, even though it is recognised in the Constitution as a third tier of government. That is why you have a states and local government joint accounts. They don’t get money directly from the Federations Account.
“Every single project executed by the NSIA is located in a local government and so, they are beneficiaries of the NSIA projects and we are satisfied with what they have been doing”.
He acknowledged the NSIA investment in health and education, he said the health facilities being invested in by the agency were health facilities belonging to the states, while those of the local government have joy benefited.
Chairman of the committee, Hon. Ademorin Kuye, asserted that the investigative hearing’s purpose is to ensure compliance with statutory provisions governing the NSIA.
Kuye said the committee’s determination is to gather comprehensive information on fund management and project execution, including potential on-site visits to assess project value.
