National Assembly Tackle Minister over Allocation of 70% Projects to Edo

•Momoh says disputed N2bn for Ihonvbere zonal intervention projects

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Regional Development yesterday accused the Minister for Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, of allegedly disregarding the principles of federal character by citing more projects of the ministry in Edo State.

The members wondered why 70 percent of the Ministry’s projects for 2024 were domiciled in his home state.

They argued that it should not be so when the Ministry was to take care of the interest of the entire Niger Delta region.

During the session, one of the members, Chinedu Ogar (APC, Ebonyi), pointedly accused the Minister of taking 70 percent of the project to his home state.

Ogar said, “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 percent of your projects are located in Edo state. Why?”

However, the Minister was not allowed by the Committee to respond to the question on camera as they asked the media to leave the hearing room to allow them go into an executive session.

After the executive session, the Minister told journalists that all the issues raised by the federal lawmakers had been resolved.

While presenting the 2024 budget performance, the Minister told the members that out of the N20 billion allocated to the Ministry in 2024 for capital budget, N2 billion was provided for zonal intervention in the Ministry’s budget by the House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere.

He said “the 2024 budget of the Ministry was a budget for the Ministry for Niger Delta Development. Accordingly, the sum of N20.16 billion was allocated for capital expenditure, 1.127 billion was for overhead 2.01 billion for personnel.

“It is important to note that out of the N20 billion allocated for capital expenditure, the Ministry’s envelope was about N18 billion while about N2 billion was provision to the Leader of the House for his zonal intervention projects.

“For the releases so far, only N1.8 billion has been released for capital, while overhead is N1.1 billion, while in respect to personnel, all the staff have been paid. The performance in relation to the releases is N100 percent.”

He explained that the 2024 budgetary allocation of N23.336 billion to the Ministry was meagre to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the region.

He added that inadequate funding and dwindling budgetary allocation over the years led to a plethora of abandoned projects and paucity of funds.

He said the development led to the derailment of the programmes of the region, and delays in contractors delivering on their contracts due to astronomical variation.

He added, “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 N5 billion or less to complete increased to about N70 billion.

“At the end of the day, the challenge has been how do we get over this? Now contractors have refused to go back to site, insisting on payment of their debt.”

For 2025, he said the Ministry was allocated a total budget of N28.9 billion, made up of N24 billion for capital expenditure, overhead of N1.6 billion, and personnel of N2.7 billion.

He said, “You may wish to know that the preparation for the 2025 budget of the ministry is one of the most difficult task the Ministry has been faced with in recent time.

“The expansion of scope and mandate, inadequate allocation and increasing level of outstanding liability has affected ongoing projects of the region.

“In spite of the limited days given to submit proposal, the budget of the Ministry still reflects that of the Niger Delta Development instead of the six regions.

“Nevertheless, the budget made provision for about N2 billion for women empowerment and capacity building across the nation.

He also said  about N1 billion livelihood support initiative across the nation and about N600 million for medical outreach for rural communities and a few other specific initiatives across the regions.

“The meagre capital ceiling of N24 billion demanded that the ministry is constrained not only to apply judicious use of funds but must introduce certain parameters in the selection of projects.”

This he said, led to stepping down projects with low levels of completion, and completion of ongoing projects.

“Arising from dwindling resources and increasing level of liabilities, we are not resting on our oars as we are pushing for adequate funding to enable the Ministry take off as the Ministry in charge of regional development.

“So we are soliciting your support for additional funding in other to deliver on Mr. President’s mandate,” he added.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Olajide Ipinsagba said the transformation of the former Ministry of Niger Delta Development into the Ministry of Regional Development was a landmark decision that reflects the federal government’s commitment to inclusive and sustainable national development.

He said this broader mandate was 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.