The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has abandoned its earlier plan to relocate its operational headquarters to the newly constructed Industrial Training Office at Maitama, Federal Capital Territory, it was gathered on Sunday.

It instead plans to renovate the ministry building located at the Old Federal Secretariat in Abuja.

This follows a recent engagement between the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, John Enoh, and representatives of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Nigeria Limited, over a proposed rehabilitation of the ministry’s decades-old office complex.

The minister, who currently operates and directs affairs of the ministry from the Bank of Industry headquarters, in a post on his official X handle, said the CCECC delegation was led by its Director, John Zhao.

The visit, according to the minister, was aimed at securing the construction company’s support for the rehabilitation of its headquarters building and fostering deeper industrial cooperation between Nigeria and China.

He added that discussions also focused on possible collaboration for developing Industrial Development Centres across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

The post read, “Today, I received the leadership of CCECC Nigeria Limited, led by Director John Zhao, at my BOI office. The purpose of the visit was to seek the Ministry’s support for the proposed rehabilitation of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment building at the Federal Secretariat and, by extension, strengthen international industrial collaboration.

“I was very impressed with their work and reaffirmed the Ministry’s openness to productive partnerships that support our national industrial agenda. We also discussed potential collaboration on the development of Industrial Development Centres across the six geopolitical zones to serve as hubs for vocational training, skills development, and inclusive industrial growth.”

However, this development contradicts earlier plans by the government. The shift in direction comes nearly a year after the ministry, under former minister Doris Uzoka-Aniete, unveiled plans to move its operations to the newly constructed multi-billion-naira Industrial Training Fund office complex in Maitama.

At the time, Aniete had said the relocation would take place once partitioning and furnishing works were completed, pending budgetary approval. “I want to assure everybody that our plans to move to our new site are on course,” she told ministry directors at the time.

To fast-track the relocation, the ministry budgeted in its 2024 budget the sum of N2.14bn for the purchase of office furniture, maintenance of the office building, and creation of new offices and partitioning at the new headquarters.

The ministry showed that N500m will be spent on the purchase of office furniture, repairs of office buildings will gulp N582.7m, and another N500m on the creation of new offices and partitioning at the new headquarters.

The latest move signals a clear policy reversal, with the focus now firmly on rehabilitating the existing headquarters, a facility that hosts several other government institutions, including the Ministry of Interior and the Nigerian Orientation Agency.

While the cost and timelines for the proposed renovation remain undisclosed, the Ministry’s sudden U-turn raises concerns over potential waste and duplication of public funds, especially as billions had already been committed to the new multi-billion naira ITF building in Maitama, which now risks becoming underutilised.