The upper chamber of the National Assembly has passed the 2023 budget of N876 billion for Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
From the budget, the Senate approved N451 million as provisions for aides of 12 Board members of the commission and N576 million for taking care of the Office of the Chairman of the Commission, Lauretta Onochie.
According to the breakdown for the office of the Chairman, the personnel cost will gulp – N156 million, overhead -N312 million and Internal capital – N108 million.
For the Managing Director’s Office, N546.597 million was earmarked for personnel costs, NN747.500 million for overhead cost, N163.504 million for Internal Capital.
Others are Executive Director Finance & Administration Office, personnel cost N133.337million, Overhead cost N457.465million and N163.504million for Internal capital.
The Corporate Affairs Department of the Commission, got N1.061 billion from the votes, out of which N431.076 million is for personnel cost , N845.566 million for overhead and N63.081 million for Internal Audit.
In the overall budget of the commission, personnel expenditure gulps N34.2 billion, overhead expenditure will gulp N17 billion, internal Capital expenditure will gulp N3.7 billion, Development projects will gulp N490 billion and Federal government intervention in the Niger Delta – N330 billion.
The revenue sources to finance the budget are revenue brought forward – N5 billion, Federal government contribution – N119 billion, Federal government contribution (unpaid areas ) – N430 Billion, Oil companies contributions – N297 billion, Ecological funds – N20 billion and other Internally Realized income – N500 million.
The Vice Chairman of Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Bulus Amos, presented the report for consideration and approval for the budget.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, who presided over the plenary, in his remarks after the passage said that the exercise was very expedient in order not to let the people of the region suffer from further delays.
Sixteen out of the Thirty member committee signed the report, considered and approved by the Senate.
