By John Douglas Ph.D.
Defence of the consolidated budget proposal of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was an impressive improvement from the last time, a couple of years ago, simply because the management appeared quite prepared for the task before the House of Representatives Committee on NDDC.
Obviously, the consolidated budget is a product of reforms in NDDC; a culmination of efforts to reposition, rewind and rebirth the Commission to work for the Niger Delta people and Nigerians living in the oil rich region. It was interesting to watch the exercise, seeing the management team perform having been adequately prepared, properly equipped and highly motivated to appear before the legislature on that critical occasion. The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, proved his mettle as he carefully disserted the budget proposal, explaining here and there how each allocation would be utilized to bring about optimum impact on the people of the region. The proposal which covered the 2021, 2022 and 2023 fiscal years were obviously prepared in line with global best practice, portraying a transformation that points to yet another legacy of the Buhari led administration and a far cry from controversy prone NDDC that was consequently barred from presenting its budget for three consecutive years. Prior to reforms by President Mohammadu Buhari, the NDDC was a conduit pipe for siphoning public funds and a staging ground for political aspirants. Its budget presentation and defence were more like a circus. The state of affairs was so appalling that in 2019, Buhari decided to act in response to appeals and agitations for overhaul of the interventionist agency. The president directed the supervising Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs to undertake a forensic audit of the NDDC. Basically, the audit was to investigate the whereabouts of humongous funds allocated to the NDDC over a period of 20 years, identify and block leakages as well as prosecute those culpable of diverting those funds.
Upon completion of the audit within three year, the Ministry now led by a seasoned administrator, Mr. Umana Okon Umana, published a 10 – point ministerial action plan to reposition the Commission. The reformation plan comprised of a 2-Day Management retreat to draw up a roadmap for reform in both the ministry and the NDDC; review of non-connection of the NDDC head office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State to public power supply and review of “disproportionate recruitment of staff during the COVID-19 lockdown,” petitions over irregular promotions and deployment of staff in the NDDC.
Also included in the plan was compilation/publication of list of all completed projects in the NDDC awaiting payments for public scrutiny; a stakeholders’ forum to review the existing templates for project delivery; prioritization of project execution and payments that deliver up the most impact for the country; new focus in project execution to shift to security, health, education, water and road infrastructure; suspension of all further award of contracts on water hyacinths in the Niger Delta; implementation of recommendations of review of the Forensic Audit Report into the operations of the NDDC; and constitution of the board of the NDDC in line with extant law. These feats were accomplished in less than seven months!
Since the governing board of NDDC was inaugurated in January this year with Mrs. Laurette Onochie as Chairman of the governing board and Dr. Samuel Ogbuku as managing director, it has made headlines for pursuing policies which are targeted at rapid, uninterrupted and sustainable development of the region. A quick example is the recently held Public-private-partnership summit in Lagos whose objectives included seeking alternative fundings for development projects in the region. According to the Chairman of the Summit Committee, Engr. Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, it provided a platform for meeting of stakeholders and experts, creating opportunities for both local and foreign investors, captains of industries, and the corporate world to partner with the NDDC in building a brighter future for the Niger Delta region. Such innovation drives the current management of NDDC.
Going back to the consolidated budget, a sneek peep at it shows that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has proposed to spend N2.28 trillion for the three fiscal years of 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively to make up for the period the National Assembly withheld the budget of the Commission because it had been without a governing board.
Dr. Ogbukwu, who appeared before the House Committee with the management team of NDDC, revealed that an aggregate expenditure of N485.7 billion is proposed for the Commission in 2021, N928.2 billion in 2022 and N876 billion for 2023 respectively. He fittingly christened it the “Budget of Rewind to Rebirth”.
According to him, the revenue estimated to fund the budget include cash brought forward of N35.5 billion in 2021, N3billion in 2022 and N5 billion in 2023; federal government statutory transfers of N85 billion for 2021 and N150 billion for 2022 and 2023 each fiscal year.
“Others are unpaid arrears of N100 billion from the Federal Government for 2021, N504billion for 2022 and N450billion for 2023 being expected revenue from the Federal Government through recovery by the EFCC from oil companies.
“Expected revenue of N250 billion from the Oil & Gas Companies for 2021, and also for 2022 and also for 2023 fiscal year. Expected N15 billion from Ecological fund for 2021, N20.7 billion for 2022 and N20 billion for 2023.
“N200 million is expected from internally generated (bank interests and sales of boarded items) for 2021 while N500million is expected in 2022 and 2023 respectively.”
He disclosed further that “out of the total budget estimates for 2021 personnel cost is N28.2 billion while N34.2 billion is proposed for 2022 and 2023″.
While the overhead costs are projected at N14.5 billion for 2021 and N16.5 Billion for 2022 and N17.4 billion for 2023, the capital expenditure would gulp an aggregate sum of N440 billion in 2021, N873 billion in 2022 and N820.5 Billion in 2023, adding that N2.9 billion was proposed for the Internal Capital (Fixed Assets budget for 2021 while N3.7 billion for 2022 and 2023.
Apparently, the management council of NDDC has done a lot of soul searching and decided to make a difference commensurate with enormous resources, effort and time invested by federal government to reform the Commission to make it work for the people. Furthermore, the successful defence of the consolidated budget, which adds to increasing public rating of NDDC, subsequently places a huge responsibility on its management to live up to the promise of excellent budget performance. There is therefore an urgent need to direct financial resources toward completing critical infrastructure such as the ongoing East-West road and rehabilitation of failed roads and several abandoned projects scatters across the region. Other key sectors begging for attention include security, education, heatlh and agriculture to ensure food security. On the whole, the management council seems poised to take on these challenges one per time nevertheless it is fitting to remind the council of a warning by the Chairman, House Committee on NDDC, Hon Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, who vowed to put the Commission on its toes to implement its mandate of developing the Niger-Delta region. According to him, “you need to implement critical projects that will add value to our people. The people are in need of renewed hope and this should be provided. When we need to stand against you we will and when we need to cooperate with you we will not hesitate. The overall good of the region is our priority.”