NDDC defends N1.911trillion 2024 budget proposal before Senate

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By Our Correspondent

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) led by its Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, Monday defended its N1.911trillion 2024 budget proposal before the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs on.

Dr. Ogbuku presented the estimates of the fiscal document to the senators in company of top management staff of the commission and the NDDC board members.

He said the budget was prepared to prioritize improvement in security, job creation, youth and women empowerment, social welfare, education and infrastructure, among others.

“The proposed budget seeks to move the Commission from transaction to transformation and was a product of participatory budgeting process that involved all the major stakeholders in the Niger Delta region with the theme “Budget of Renewed Hope Agenda”.

“In preparing the 2024 budget, our primary objective has been to sustain our robust foundation for sustainable economic development”, he said.

He put the agency’s outstanding revenue from last fiscal year at N12bn; arrears owed by the Federal Government and recoveries by federal agencies at N170bn.

Ogbuku said the agency proposed to borrow N1trn; projected N324bn as Federal Government contribution and N25bn ecology fund.

The Managing Director added that the commission was expecting N375bn as oil companies’ contributions and projected N5bn an internally generated revenue.

On expenditure, the NDDC planned to spend N38.545bn as personnel cost; overhead cost of N29.246bn and internal capital of N8.785billion .

Ogbuku added that the agency would fund legacy projects with the N1trn it intends to borrow from commercial and development banks while additional N835.222bn.

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He said, “as of April 30th 2024, the Commission’s actual aggregate revenue inflow was N683.2bn approximately 78% of the targeted N876bn.

“This comprise N146.4 billion representing (122%) from the Federal Government and N394.5 billion representing (141%) from Oil & Gas Companies. We had a carry forward of N105billion from 2023 representing (2117%).

“Investing in critical infrastructure is a key component of our fiscal strategy under the 2024 budget proposals.

“The present management has noted that the Commission alone would not be able to effectively address the development challenges in the Niger Delta region.

“Towards this end, we are re-navigating its process of intervention by adopting Public-Private-Partnership model as a vehicle to drive a sustainable development in the Niger Delta Region.

“Accordingly, to this end, we are in partnership with the Industrial TrainiÀng Fund to gainfully engage the youth of the region to reduce crime, economic sabotage”.

On indebtedness, he said the agency made a provision for payment of legacy debt in the budget.

“What we have there is about a hundred million which we believe if we phase out this, maybe in the next 10 years, we should have been able to pay off most of all these legacy debts.

“Some of these debts are even 20 years old; some of them are 15 years old, but they are not debts you can pay in one year”, he said.

He added that the main emphasis will be the completion of as many ongoing legacy projects that have advanced greatly.

“It is our expectation that by the end of the 2024 fiscal year we would have completed more than 200km of roads across the Niger Delta Region, as we understand that our people have different expectations on the budget of NDDC and they believe the Commission will respond to all their demands.

See also  Dangote Refinery makes case for 100% Nigerian crude …as Senate probes alleged sabotage in petroleum industry By Our Correspondent The Dangote Refinery has made passionate appeal to the Senate, NNPCL, NUPRC, NDMPRA and other stakeholders in the industry to help supply the refinery its crude oil need 100 per cent from Nigeria. Group Strategy Officer, Dangote Refinery, Aliyu Suleiman made the appeal at the Senate Ad-hoc Committee probing alleged economic sabotage in petroleum industry at the Senate Complex, Abuja on Wednesday. He said right now, the refinery bought about 50 million barrels of crude out of which about 60% comes from NNPC. Mr. Suleiman who expressed gratitude to NNPC for their support, added that, essentially, all they are asking is for them to get their crude requirement from Nigeria 100%. “Let's be very clear, we are happy to pay fair prices. We hope that we'll work with the regulator and we'll get their support so that the refinery can get 100% of its crude from Nigeria and buy the crude from companies that produce it in Nigeria not from international middlemen. “We count on support of the committee, the regulators and other stakeholders to ensure that the refinery succeeds, because if it does, aside from the other obvious benefits, like forex generation, job creation and the rest, most importantly, there is the psychological benefit of making, giving Nigerians, Africa in general, the confidence that we can succeed. Giving a progress update on the refinery, Mr. Suleiman said since the refinery started full trial production in January and then full time production started in March, we processed about 50 million barrels of crude. “We have produced about five million tons of petroleum products. And these petroleum products have been sold to various parts of the country and Jet oil has been sold in Europe since May. He said other products have been sent to places as far as Asia, US, Brazil, and so on. So the refinery has been making a lot of progress. He emphasized the importance of deliberately protecting local industries for the over all economic development of the country. According to him, “the US, for example, has done that, to protect their own industries against attack by China that subsidize their own industries and then sends them to the US. So that's the first question. We want to urge the committee to consider if we deserve protection against them”. He posed three basic questions that revolved around protection of local industries for the consideration of the committee and Nigerians at large. The questions are: “Do local refineries deserve protection from NUPRC? “Should Nigeria protect its infant industries in order to improve investment? “Should local refineries have preferential access to Nigerian crude? He said Dangote found itself competing against Russian products that were produced with oil that is valued at $60. “We all know that because of the cap that has been put Russian oil, the value of Russian oil today in the market is $60. And that's what Russia is using to produce their products and those products are being sent in large quantities into Africa to compete with products that are produced in refineries that buy crude at $90. “We don't think this will be a fair competitive environment and I think that when you have such unfair competition, it is normal to put protective measures. “I think even in the animal world, the moment a new baby is born, they don't just go and leave it out in the wild. “What we want is to sell more of our products in Nigeria, because we believe we can do that, we can compete. And even though there are concerns that have been expressed around monopoly, that is a problem that has been identified. The right thing to do is to say, how do we address this problem? If monopoly is a risk, how do we address this risk while at the same time ensuring that we protect our domestic industries? The good thing is that in the PIA, there are provisions around that, you can monitor and take action if you feel there's monopoly.

“However, the reality is that resources are limited and no budget can ever meet and satisfy the yearnings of each and every member of the rural communities.

“We can only devote our efforts to providing support for the needs of the greater number of our people.

“Our fiscal reforms shall introduce new performance management frameworks to regulate the overhead cost”, he said.

Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North), a member of the Committee, disclosed that the panel in the 10th Senate, would carry out massive oversight functions on the projects and activities of the NDDC more than ever before.

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