Senate slams building research institute over N18m IGR

The Senate Committee on Science and Technology on Wednesday slammed the Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute (NBRI) for generating only N18million in the 2021 fiscal year, which is less than 10% of its N49billion budgetary allocation.  

Chairman of the committee, Senator Uche Ekwunife (PDP, Anambra), during an assessment of the agency’s 2021 budget implementation and 2022 projections,  said it was unacceptable for such agency mandated by law to provide consultancy for all construction projects across the country to generate less than 10 per cent of its yearly allocation. 

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“Your revenue generation is very poor going by your scope of operations and budgetary allocation for required performance,” she said.  

Responding, the Director-General of NBRI, Prof. Samson Duna, said the agency received only 75% out of its estimate of N49bn in 2021, adding that the N18 million generated was from journals and tender documents.   

He stated that operationally, with a staff strength of 530 across the country, the agency had come up with an alternative to cement produced from waste products to help reduce the cost of building and road construction in the country.  

But the committee members advised the agency to focus on its core mandates of road research to ensure that roads were constructed to a high standard.