The Senate has warned that inadequate funding could undermine the ability of the North Central Development Commission (NCDC) to effectively deliver on its statutory mandate, describing the current monthly allocation to the commission as grossly insufficient.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on the North Central Development Commission, Senator Titus Zam, raised the concern on Tuesday while briefing journalists after an interactive session between the committee and the management of the commission at the National Assembly.
Senator Zam disclosed that the commission, which has a ₦140 billion budget for the 2026 fiscal year, is currently receiving ₦2.9 billion monthly, a figure he described as “a drop in the ocean” that would amount to less than half of its approved budget if sustained throughout the year.
He expressed confidence that the Federal Government would increase funding as the commission becomes fully operational.
“If you give someone that has a budget of ₦140 billion, ₦2.9 billion per month, in 12 months, it won’t be up to half of the entire budgetary sum,” he said.
“I suppose that is just a temporary package. When the commission finally comes to fruition, much more funds will be released. So we thank Mr. President and the Executive for releasing something now, but we look forward to more.”
Despite the funding concerns, the committee chairman assured that the Senate would ensure prudent utilisation of the resources already released through robust legislative oversight while guiding the commission on priority areas of intervention.
He urged the commission to concentrate its efforts on agriculture, security and rural development, noting that the North Central region is predominantly agrarian and continues to grapple with persistent security challenges.
“North Central is mostly an agricultural land. We have arable land, good rainfall and vegetation. There is policy for agriculture. We need the department of NCDC to take agriculture very seriously,” Zam stated.
He also called on the commission to support security agencies and state governments in addressing insecurity across the region.
“We also have a challenge of insecurity. The commission is advised to support the security forces and state governments to complement their efforts towards mitigating the tide of insecurity within the region.
“We also ask them to take rural development very seriously because we are also rural in nature,” he added.
The Senate Committee reaffirmed its commitment to working closely with the commission to ensure that available resources are judiciously applied to projects capable of improving security, boosting agricultural productivity and accelerating infrastructure development across the North Central region.
