The Niger Delta Development Commission has submitted a ₦1.75 trillion budget proposal for the 2025 fiscal year to the Senate, as lawmakers move to begin a physical review of projects carried out by the commission between 2021 and 2024.
The proposal was presented to the Senate Committee on NDDC, which announced plans to embark on a comprehensive oversight tour to assess both ongoing and completed projects across the Niger Delta.
While presenting the budget, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Samuel Ogbuku, said the 2025 estimate represents a nine per cent reduction from the ₦1.985 trillion proposed and approved for the 2024 fiscal year.
According to the breakdown, the commission expects ₦776.5 billion from the Federal Government, ₦752.8 billion from oil companies, ₦109.4 billion carried over from 2024, ₦53.67 billion from recoveries from Federal Government agencies, and ₦8.35 billion from internally generated revenue.
Ogbuku explained that of the total ₦1.75 trillion projected expenditure, ₦1.631 trillion is allocated to project execution across the Niger Delta, ₦22.3 billion for internally executed projects, ₦47.56 billion for personnel costs, and ₦49.93 billion for overheads.
On the performance of the 2024 budget, which was extended to December 31, 2025, he told the committee chaired by Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong that as of October 31, 2025, the commission recorded actual revenue of ₦1.985 trillion, surpassing the target of ₦1.911 trillion. He attributed the improved performance largely to the extension of the budget implementation period.
After the presentation, the committee met behind closed doors with NDDC management and senior officials of the commission.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, Senator Ekpenyong said the committee resolved to carry out a wide-ranging oversight visit to NDDC projects across the nine Niger Delta states in January 2026.
He said the closed-door session involved detailed reviews of projects and stressed that on-the-spot inspections were necessary for proper verification. According to him, the commission executed several projects during the outgoing fiscal year and is expected to deliver better results in the coming year.
The committee also observed a minute of silence in honour of the late former chairman of the committee in the 9th Senate, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, who died two weeks ago. The tribute followed a motion moved by Senator Ned Nwoko and seconded by the committee’s vice chairman, Senator Patrick Ndubueze.
