Anxiety, intrigues over delayed presentation of NDDC’s 2019 budget to NASS 

 Fred Itua, Abuja

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 explanation on 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, while 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 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 the appointment of the commission’s board

However, the interim committee set up by Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, currently manages the Commission. The Minister said the committee will run the NDDC for six months and oversee the forensic audit of the agency.

”With the completion of this process now (confirmation), I am sure that any other structure that exists now (in NDDC) is vitiated,” Lawan said while commenting on the confirmation of the nominees.

”I don’t think we have anything to worry about because this is one thing that is clearly established by law.” Lawan added.

Moreover, following the expiration of the life span of the 2018 budget of the Commission last July, the National Assembly had raised several queries about the resort to extra budgetary expenditure by the NDDC management and board instead of making genuine efforts towards submitting the 2019 budget proposal for the commission.

The committees of the two chambers in charge of the NDDC had in August in a letter, drawn the attention of the NDDC management to the provisions of section 80(4) of the Constitution which stipulated that “No money shall be withdrawn from the consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund except in a manner prescribed by the National Assembly”

The committees threatened that the National Assembly would not hesitate to invoke its full legislative powers to deal with any infraction of the Constitutional provisions.

In its response to the letter joint committee, the then NDDC chairman, Professor Ben Brambaifa, acknowledged that the Commission was quite aware of the expiration of the 2018 budget.