Lekan Sowande, Abuja
The Senate Committee on the North Central Development Commission (NCDC) has endorsed the N140 billion budgetary allocation for the commission in the 2025 fiscal year, urging that the funds be applied judiciously once approved by the Senate.
The endorsement, led by Senator Titus Zam, followed the budget defence presented on Tuesday by the Commission’s Managing Director, Mr Tsenyil Yiltsen.
Announcing the committee’s approval, Senator Zam, who chairs the committee, stated: “After a careful look at the issues contained in the budget and the eloquent presentation by the MD and his team, the committee has approved the budget of N140 billion as presented by the Commission.”
In his presentation, Mr Yiltsen explained that the N140 billion was allocated by the Federal Government, with N100 billion earmarked for capital expenditure across the six states in the North Central zone and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), while N40 billion would cover recurrent expenditure, including overheads and personnel costs.
He noted that the N100 billion was not tied to a single project but spread across multiple initiatives in the zone.
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“We have eight thematic areas in terms of infrastructure deployment, which are security, agriculture, mining, environmental degradation, education, health, road construction etc.,” Mr Yiltsen said.
He assured the committee that under his leadership, the Commission would ensure equitable execution of projects across the six states and the FCT.
“We will go out for proper needs assessment in all the states and will be fair in the distribution of these projects in all the six states and FCT,” he added.
Mr Yiltsen added that a significant portion of the N40 billion recurrent expenditure would go towards paying the salaries of 200 new staff, pending approval of their recruitment by the Office of the Head of Service.
While commending the Commission’s plans, the committee cautioned the NCDC to ensure prudent utilisation of the funds, particularly the N100 billion allocated for capital projects.
It also urged the governments of the six benefiting states and the FCT to provide office accommodation for the Commission’s branches in their respective areas.