Senate Committee Approves ₦140bn Budget for North Central Development Commission

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By Nelson Ogbu 

The Senate Committee on the North Central Development Commission (NCDC) has approved a budget proposal of ₦140 billion for the commission.

The approval was given on Tuesday during a budget defence session held at the National Assembly in Abuja.

Briefing journalists after the exercise, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Titus Zam (APC–Benue North West), explained that ₦100 billion was allocated for capital projects while ₦40 billion was earmarked for recurrent expenditure.

Earlier, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Tsenyil Cyril Yiltsen, had outlined the agency’s immediate needs, which include the establishment of offices in the six states of the North Central region and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), as well as the recruitment of 200 staff whose application process is already before the Head of Service.

In their remarks, committee members urged the commission to liaise with governors of the six states in the zone and the FCT Minister for possible donation of office spaces to reduce costs.

The lawmakers also directed the commission to always copy the Senate Committee on all correspondence to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Head of Service (HOS), and other relevant agencies to ensure proper follow-up.