By Nathaniel Zacchaeus Abuja
The Senate yesterday passed the N1.911trn 2024 budget of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The upper chamber passed it after considering a report submitted by its Committee on NDDC, presented by its Chairman, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong.
It was passed with a borrowing plan of N1trn for funding “legacy” projects in the Niger Delta region.
The lawmakers also approved N835.2bn for project development and N38.5bn was approved for proposed personnel.
The sum of N29.2bn was passed as overhead cost and N8.7 billion was approved as cost for internal capital.
The budget was proposed to the senate committee on NDDC on Monday with an assurance that it will address unemployment, lack of education, poor healthcare system, and construction of roads and sustain the economic development of the Niger Delta region.
Ekpenyong, while presenting the report at yesterday’s plenary, claimed that his committee has scrutinised estimates of the budget as proposed by the NDDC.
He, thereafter, urged his colleagues to support the passage.
The Senator did not provide the budget performance of the NDDC in the previous year.
The Senate President said the borrowing plan of the NDDC will follow due process and that the Senate will ensure the funds are judiciously utilised.
“Before they go and borrow N1 trillion, they must follow due process. This is not the end of the budget. We are still going for an oversight function,” Akpabio said.
*Approves N98.5bn FCT 2024 Appropriation Bill
Also yesterday the Senate passed the sum of N98.5bn as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2024.
The passage of the Bill was sequel to the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on FCT during plenary.
The Senate had last week stepped down the Bill saying the details of the budget needed to accompany it.
The Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Osita Ngwu (PDP – Enugu West) presented the report on behalf of the chairman of the Committee Senator Bomai Mohammed (APC – Yobe South) who was absent during the plenary.
Similarly, the Senate yesterday adopted the conference report of the South East Development Commission (SEDC) Bill.
The adoption followed the consistency of the conference committee report on the Bill presented at plenary by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters, Senator Mohammed Monguno (APC, Borno North).
The Bill titled, “A bill for an Act to establish the South East Development Commission charged with the responsibility of among other things receiving and managing funds from allocation of the federation account.
It will be used for the construction and rehabilitation of roads, houses, and other infrastructural damages suffered by the region.
The challenges were a result of the civil war as well as tackling the ecological problems and any other related environmental or developmental challenges faced by the South-eastern part of Nigeria and related matters in 2024.
The bill was read the third time and passed by the Senate on February 22, 2024.
The Bill seeks to establish the commission to manage infrastructural development such as the construction and rehabilitation of roads, houses, and others in the Southeastern region.
The agency will also be empowered to tackle the ecological problems and any other related environmental or developmental challenges in the region.
The commission is expected to receive and manage funds from the allocation of the Federation Account to execute infrastructural projects in the South-East when established.
The agitation for the establishment of the commission started many years ago.
The Bill to establish the commission was passed by members of the 8th Senate but former President Muhammadu Buhari did not assent to it.
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, and some other lawmakers from the South-East reintroduced the bill in the lower chamber last year.
The House passed the bill last December and transmitted it to the Senate for concurrence.
