The Senate has cleared a N140 billion budget for the North Central Development Commission (NCDC), warning the agency to deploy the funds strictly for the benefit of the zone.
The approval came on Tuesday after the commission’s Managing Director, Tsenyil Yiltsen, defended the 2025 appropriation before the Senator Titus Zam-led committee.
Announcing the endorsement, Zam said, ‘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’.
Yiltsen told lawmakers that the NCDC was allocated N140 billion by the Federal Government for the fiscal year, with N100 billion set aside for capital projects across the six states of the zone and the Federal Capital Territory, while N40 billion would cover recurrent expenditure, including overheads and personnel costs.
The senator explained that the capital funds would be channelled into multiple interventions rather than one project.
‘We have eight thematic areas in terms of infrastructure deployment which are security, agriculture, mining, environmental degradation, education, health, road construction etc’, he said.
The MD assured the committee that the commission would ensure even spread of projects.
‘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 noted.
Yiltsen added that part of the recurrent allocation would be used to pay salaries for 200 new staff to be recruited after approval by the Office of the Head of Service.
While commending the presentation, the Senate panel urged the NCDC to deploy the funds prudently, especially the N100 billion earmarked for capital projects.
It also called on the six benefiting states and the FCT to provide office accommodation for the commission’s branches in their respective areas.
