As against Buhari’s proposed budget of N410 Billion

By Henry Umoru – Abuja

The Senate, on Thursday, approved the sum of N346,388,900,000.00 for the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for the  2019 fiscal year.

According to the Senate,  the lifespan of the 2019 NDDC budget will elapse on 3lst May 2020.

The approved sum is a difference of N63;494,100,000 as against a total Expenditure of N409,883,000,000 as presented to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The breakdown of the approved budget shows that of the total sum of N346,388,900,000.00,

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Personnel Expenditure is put at N22,338,190, 000; Overhead Expenditure is 13,466,810, 000; Internal Capital Expenditure is N 4,083, 000, 000 and for  Development Projects, the agency got N306, 500, 900, 000.

The approval of the budget by the Senate was sequel to the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs as presented by the Chairman, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Delta North.

Presenting the report, Senator Nwaoboshi who noted that total revenue proposed in the 2019 Budget is N 346,388,300,000, just as he said that the Revenue Brought Forward is  N11,000,000,000;  Federal Government contribution will be N100,188,900,000;  Federal Government contribution (ie Unpaid arrears by Federal Government) is zero (0 ); Oil companies contributions and Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (NLNG) and others will be N230 000 000 000; Ecological Funds will be N 5,000,000,000 while Other Internally Realized Income will be N200,000,000.

According to him, the total Expenditure of  N409,883,000,000 presented by the President,  revenue sources were to be made up of the following: Revenue Brought Forward N11, 000,000,000;  Federal Government contribution N128, 683,000,000; Federal Government contribution (ie Unpaid arrears by Federal Government) N35,000,000,000; Oil companies contributions & others N 230,000,000,000 ; Ecological Funds 5,000,000,000 and other Internally Realized Income is N 200,000,000.

Speaking further, Senator Nwaoboshi said, “Upon referral, the Committee carried out its legislative mandate on the budget proposal and noted that the developmental aspect of the budget is basically a rollover of the 2018 Budget which is in furtherance of the drive to ensure completion of ongoing projects.

“On the revenue projections of the Commission, 128,683,000,000 Billion Naira was stated as statutory contribution by the Federal Government to the NDDC. Since the proposed Federal Government contribution for the year 2019 is higher than the amount approved by the National Assembly for the same year, the Committee adopted 100.188.90 Billion Naira which is the figure reflected in the Appropriations Act, 2019.

“Furthermore, the sum of N35 billion Naria stated as unpaid arrears by the Federal Government was not considered as part of the Commission’s revenue projection by the Committee because the amount was not approved in the 2019 Appropriations Act by the National Assembly.

“The Commission in its 2018 Budget Performance Report, disclosed on aggregate revenue inflow of (N344.11bn) 344,117,863,407 representing 99% of the 2018 budget. The Recurrent Expenditure (Personnel and Overhead Expenditure) and Internal Capital of (N35.07bn) N35,079,320,850 representing 99.8% were spent and it elapsed December 3tst 2019. The capital expenditure (Development Projects) of (N304,42bn) N304,428,534,941 representing 97.8% was spent and it elapsed July 31st, 2019. The Commission recorded 98% on its performance for 2018.

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“The Committee adopted the submission of the Commission on Personnel Expenditure of Twenty-two Billion, Three Hundred and Thirty-eight Million, One Hundred and Ninety Thousand Naira (N22,338,190,000) only, Overhead Expenditure Thirteen Billion, Four Hundred and Sixty-Six Million, Eight Hundred and Ten Thousand Naira (N13,466,810,000) only, but reduced the budget for Development Projects due to adjustments in the revenue profile of the Commission.

Thus, Development Projects now stands at Three Hundred and Six Billion, Five Hundred Million, Nine Hundred Thousand Naira (N306,500,900,000) only and Internal Capitol Four Billion, Eighty-Three Million Naira (N4,083,000,000) only.

“The total budget for 2019 is therefore, Three Hundred and Forty-Six Billion, Three Hundred and Eighty-Eight Million, Nine Hundred Thousand Naira(N346,388,900,000.00) only.

“The Senate Committee on Niger Delta and the House of Representatives Committee on NDDC unanimously resolved to recommend that the lifespan of the budget be extended to enable the Commission achieve full implementation. Accordingly, the 2019 NDDC Budget is recommended to elapse on 31st May, 2020.”

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