The Red Chamber on Thursday removed N19bn from the 2016 budget of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), representing 8.20 percent.
The budget which was passed on the floor of the Senate reduced the N260,064,000,000 budget of the commission submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari to N241,114,000,000
The budget slash in the budget was in the area of development projects. The President had proposed N231,224,000,000 but the lawmakers cut it down to N212,274,000,000.
The breakdown of the budget showed that Personnel Expenditure N17,560,518,930, overhead expenditure N9,980,000,000 and Internal capital expenditure N1,300,000,000.
Presenting the report of his Committee on the budget, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi said the slash represents 8.20 percent.
“The adjustments were made only in the capital projects amounting to 8.20 percent cut across the states and regional and did not affect the recurrent expenditure, “he said.
In his remarks, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, stressed the need for the full implementation of the budget to alleviate the suffering of the people of the region.
