The Minister of Regional Development has expressed concern over inadequate budgetary provisions, urging the Senate to support the ministry in ensuring the implementation of projects that will significantly benefit Nigerians.
While defending the 2025 budget proposal of the ministry before the Joint Committee on Niger Delta, the supervising Minister, Abubakar Momoh, emphasized that adequate funding is crucial to achieving the objectives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, particularly in infrastructural development.
Momo further assured that the ministry is ready to fully cooperate with the National Assembly to work out modalities for easy implementation of meaningful projects for effective socio-economic advancement in the zone.
Momoh also stated that the ministry’s enveloped budget, with a ceiling of ₦28.9 billion, reflected the scope of the defunct Ministry of Niger Delta Development, rather than covering all six regions under its jurisdiction.
He suggested that it would be more effective for the government to allocate adequate funds to critical projects for their completion before initiating new ones.
According to him, “This way, we will be able to move forward. However, in a situation where a project requires ₦5 billion, but only ₦500 million is allocated, how can such a project be executed, no matter how important it is to the economy?”
COV/Bashir M
