National Assembly queries minister over allocation of 70% projects to Edo
The National Assembly Joint Committee on Regional Development has queried the Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, over alleged lopsidedness in the ministry’s 2024 budget.
Momoh, a former member of the House of Representatives, was queried on Tuesday when he appeared before the committee with the Minister of State, Uba Maigari, to defend the 2024 budget performance and make projections for 2025.
Members of the committee accused Momoh of favouring his home state, Edo, over other states that make up the Niger Delta region.
This is just as the lawmakers queried Momoh for non-adherence to the federal character principle in the allocation of projects of the defunct Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
They noted that 70 per cent of the ministry’s projects for 2024 were domiciled in Edo State.
A member of the House of Representatives, Matthew Nwogu, urged the minister to justify why 70 per cent of the projects for 2024 were located in Edo State.
Nwogu said, “Mr Minister, tell us why most of these 2024 budgets (projects) are situated in Edo State.”
The lawmaker wondered why other states under the ministry were excluded while the bulk of the projects went to Momoh’s state.
Similarly, a member of the House, Chinedu Ogar, asked the same question, saying, “Honourable minister, I am happy that you are a product of the National Assembly. My constituents are not happy with this your budget because it negates the constitutional principle of federal character. About 70 per cent of your projects are located in Edo state. Why?”
Chairman, House Committee on Regional Development, Eugene Okechukwu, moved that the minister be allowed to answer the questions in an executive session.
The committee dissolved into an executive session to interface with the minister on the matter.
Earlier, while presenting the 2024 budget performance, the minister told the members that out of the N20bn allocated to the ministry in 2024 for the capital budget, N2bn was provided for zonal intervention in the ministry’s budget by the House Leader, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, who is from Edo State.
The minister told the committee that the ministry’s total budget proposal for 2025 was N28.9bn made up of N24bn for capital projects; N2.7bn for personnel cost and N1.6bn for recurrent expenditure.
The minister lamented that the amount earmarked for the Ministry of Regional Development to address the development needs of the five development commissions is inadequate.
He appealed to the joint committee to intervene in order to ensure that budgetary allocation for 2025 is upwardly reviewed.
Momoh added that due to poor budgetary allocation, the ministry had been unable to complete some projects critical to the development of the region.
He said, “The 2024 budget of the ministry was a budget for the Ministry for Niger Delta Development. Accordingly, the sum of N20.16bn was allocated for capital expenditure, N1.13bn was for overhead and N2.01bn for personnel.
“It is important to note that out of the N20bn allocated for capital expenditure, the ministry’s envelope was about N18bn while about N2bn was provision to the Leader of the House for his zonal intervention projects.
“For the releases so far, only N1.8bn has been released for capital, while overhead is N1.1bn, while in respect to personnel, all the staff have been paid. The performance in relation to the releases is N100 per cent.”
He explained that the 2024 budgetary allocation of N23.34bn by the ministry was considered very meagre to meet the developmental needs of the region.
He added that inadequate funding and dwindling budgetary allocation has over the years led to a plethora of abandoned projects.
He said, “When we took over, the first assignment I gave out was to go around to get details of all ongoing projects. It is quite amazing to know that projects that needed about N5bn or less to complete increased to about N70bn.
“At the end of the day, the challenge has been how do we get over this? Now contractors have refused to go back to the site, insisting on payment of their debt.
“You may wish to know that the preparation for the 2025 budget of the Ministry is one of the most difficult tasks.
“The ministry has been faced with challenges in recent times because of the expansion of scope and mandate, inadequate allocation, and increasing level of outstanding liability which has affected ongoing projects of the region.
“The budget made provision for about N2bn for women empowerment and capacity building across the nation takes about N1bn.
“Others are livelihood support initiatives across the nation and about N600m for medical outreach for rural communities and a few other specific initiatives across the regions.
“The meagre capital ceiling of N24bn demanded that the ministry is constrained not only to apply judicious use of funds but must introduce certain parameters in the selection of projects which led to stepping down projects with a low level of completion and completion of ongoing projects.
“The ministry would want to emphasise that all its projects are vital and very critical to the realisation of its mandate. Arising from dwindling resources and increasing levels of liabilities, we are not resting on our oars as we are pushing for adequate funding to enable the Ministry to take off as the ministry in charge of regional development.
“So we are soliciting your support for additional funding in order to deliver on Mr President’s mandate.”
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Regional Development, Olajide Ipinsagba, said the transformation of the former Ministry of Niger Delta Development into the Ministry of Regional Development is a landmark decision that reflects the Federal Government’s commitment to inclusive and sustainable national development.
He said this broader mandate is a bold and strategic step towards addressing the diverse development needs of all regions across the nation while still retaining a firm focus on the peculiar challenges faced by the Niger Delta region.
He added,, “The creation of the Ministry of Regional Development is a recognition that development must not be restricted to one region alone but should be across the length and breadth of the country.
“As a result, no community, regardless of its size or location, must be left behind in the nation’s development agenda.”
On his part, the Chairman of the House Committee on Regional Development, Eugene Okechukwu, asked the ministry to ensure an equitable distribution of projects among the various states and regions and not to create a situation where some states get more projects than others.
He, however, commended the President for his foresight in creating the Ministry for Regional Development, describing it as a strategic move that will boost regional development and bring about growth and development of the entire country uniformly.
He said, “A worrisome development is a situation where some zones and states benefit more than others. This will no doubt cause disaffection and a distraction to the mission of the President in creating the Ministry for Regional Development.
“I would like to ask the ministers to collaborate with the National Assembly to ensure adequate funding for the ministry. I assure you that both the Senate and House Committee will give you the desired support.”
