Senate Scrutinises NDDC ‘ s N346bn 2020 Budget

The Niger Delta Development Commission’s (NDDC) Interim Management Committee (IMC) led by Dr Joy Nunieh has finally got the Senate’s formal recognition as the senate committee sat for the commission’s 2020 budget.
The IMC members in response to the Senate’s invitation for the defence of the commission’s N346billion 2020 budget proposal, appeared before the committee, last Wednesday.
The senate committee also threw its weight behind ongoing forensic auditing being carried out on accounts of the agency by the Executive which stopped the 15-member board of the commission screened and approved by the Senate in November last year.
Senate Nwaoboshi, in his remarks at the budget defence session said: ”We are here to consider and approve the agency’s budget proposals for 2019 as forwarded to the Senate by President Muhamnadu Buhari in December, last year.
“However, in doing that we shall be guided by policy thrust of the government on budget proposals, implementation and performance”, he said.
According to him, in line with submissions made by the President on the 8th of October, 2019 during presentation of the 2020 budget estimates, performance status of projects in previous years will be strictly considered in giving appropriation to any proposal.
The agency, however, ran into troubled waters when the committee demanded for documents on all its emergency projects which could not be provided by the acting managing director.
The committee consequently directed Nunieh to make the documents available unfailingly by next Tuesday, failure of which will lead to organisation of public hearing on them.

By: Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi, Abuja