Commission Promises Development With N1.75trrn Budget

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has presented a budget estimate of N1.75 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year to the Senate Committee on NDDC, chaired by Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, and the House of Representatives Committee on NDDC, headed by Hon. Ibori-Suenu Erhiatake.

At the event in Abuja, the NDDC managing director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, said the 2025 Budget, with the theme “Budget of Consolidation,” builds on the gains of the 2024 budget of “Renewed Hope” and reflects the commission’s deliberate shift from transactional to transformational development, in alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Ogbuku expressed appreciation to Tinubu for the confidence reposed in the current NDDC Management, as well as the Supervising Minister of Regional Development, Engr. Abubakar Momoh, for his strategic guidance. He also commended the leadership and members of the 10th National Assembly, particularly the Senate and House Committees on NDDC, for their constructive oversight and partnership.

He said the growing credibility and improved public perception of the Commission were the result of synergy among the NDDC Board and Management, the Ministry of Regional Development, and the National Assembly, stressing that legislative oversight remained a partnership anchored in accountability, transparency, and measurable impact.

Ogbuku said the 2025 estimate represented a nine per cent reduction from the N1.985 trillion proposed and appropriated for the 2024 fiscal year.

He told the Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong-led committee that the proposed N1.75 trillion budget was expected to be funded from multiple sources, including N776.5 billion from the Federal Government; N752.8 billion from oil companies; N109.4 billion in revenue brought forward from 2024; N53.67 billion in recoveries from federal government agencies; and N8.35 billion in internally generated revenue.

A breakdown of the proposal showed that N1.631 trillion was earmarked for project execution across the Niger Delta region, while N223 billion was allocated to internal projects. Personnel cost was put at N47.56 billion, with N49.929 billion set aside for overhead expenditure.

On the performance of the 2024 budget, Ogbuku informed the committee that as of October 31, 2025, the commission’s actual revenue stood at N1.985 trillion, exceeding the initial target of N1.911 trillion.

He attributed the improved revenue performance largely to the extension of the 2024 budget implementation to December 31, 2025.