Fred Itua, Abuja
Barely a month to the end of the year, President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to present the 2019 budget proposal of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to the National Assembly for approval.
This is believed to be borne out of series of intrigues and games within and outside the Niger Delta region regarding the affairs of the NDDC.
The commission’s 2019 budget proposal ought to have been presented to the National Assembly, processed and approved before July 31st, 2019 when the Commission’s 2018 budget expired.
However, it was learnt that the power play between forces disposed to the continued existence of the current Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the NDDC and those supporting the inauguration of persons already appointed and confirmed as substantive members of the commission, was adversely affecting the move to produce the 2019 budget for the NDDC.
Last Tuesday, the House of Representatives invited the IMC of NDDC for an explanation of the non-availability of the commission’s 2019 budget.
The expired 2018 budget of N346. 5 billion of the NDDC provided N2.883 billion for Capital Expenditure, while N311.371 billion was approved for development projects just as N19.521 billion was for Personnel Cost and N12. 737 billion was for Overhead Expenditure.
Similarly, in 2017, the NDDC got a total of N364 billion as its annual budget out of which the sum of N329.850 billion was approved for capital projects.
Despite the insistence of the Senate that the interim committee should be made to give way to those appointed and confirmed as members of the NDDC management and board a few weeks ago, President Buhari is yet to act on the confirmation. The scenario has continued to generate serious concerns among stakeholders in the Niger Delta.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, had stated that the current management of the NDDC had become voided with the confirmation of thea appointment of the commission’s board