NDDC To Spend N308bn On Capital Projects
From OFEM UKET, Abuja

THERE are strong indications that the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has proposed a three year development expenditure to the tune of N308 billion from 2010 to 2012.This is outside recurrent, personnel cost and non project expenditure if the national budget projections on planned development in the region would be sustained.
There are also revelations as to how  the three years appropriation will run given the fact that allocation of funds to agencies in the yearly budget is dynamic, though the officials of the NDDC are said to have a hidden agenda.
The projects expenditure budget for 2009 is estimated to be N88.056billion, N80.36billion in 2008 and N61.83billion in 2007, so it is expected that within the next three years there would be a corresponding increase in the yearly appropriations.
Saturday Mirror investigation revealed that the top management team of the NDDC have concluded plans to implement a three year development strategy to ginger the Federal Government to provide funds through supplementary appropriations which in effect would attract rollover of capital projects to the following year so as to retain funds that should be returned as unspent to the federation account.
At a presentation for the defence of the commission's budget at the National Assembly, the officials led by the acting managing director, Mr Power Ikiniga reminded members of the House of Representatives that the strategic objective of the intended approach is to actualize the Niger Delta Master Plan.
He said the completion of the foundation phase of the regional master plan has caused the commission to commence the process of deploying the medium term sector strategies and medium term expenditure framework for multi-year planning purposes.