₦246bn NEDC allocation not meant for salaries alone — Budget office

The Budget Office of the Federation has rejected claims that the North East Development Commission (NEDC) operates a ₦246 billion salary budget, describing the allegation as misleading and rooted in a poor understanding of the federal budgeting process.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, clarified that the ₦246.77 billion allocation reflected against the NEDC in the federal budget is a statutory lump-sum provision and not earmarked solely for personnel costs.

Yakubu said the claim wrongly suggests that the commission exists only to pay salaries, adding that it ignores established budget presentation practices and legislative appropriation procedures.

“The claim that the NEDC exists merely to pay salaries is unfounded. It conflates technical budget presentation with actual expenditure intent, ignores legislative appropriation dynamics, and disregards project-level evidence already embedded in official documents,” he said.

He explained that statutory and quasi-statutory agencies are often presented with bulk allocations under the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), particularly at early stages of budget preparation.

“Contrary to claims circulating in the public domain, the ₦246.77 billion reflected against the NEDC is not a salaries-only allocation. It is a statutory lump-sum provision presented at an aggregate level, in line with established budgeting practices,” Yakubu said.

According to him, where agencies fail to submit detailed internal economic breakdowns at the point of budget upload, allocations may temporarily appear under the Personnel Cost heading as a technical placeholder.

“The suggestion that ₦244 billion of this allocation is earmarked solely for personnel costs is factually incorrect. This technical presentation must not be confused with spending intent,” he added.

Yakubu also addressed concerns over capital expenditure, noting that the ₦2.70 billion figure cited by critics reflects a National Assembly-approved adjustment in the 2025 budget, with about 70 per cent of capital spending deferred to the 2026 fiscal year.

“This was a legislative decision on the timing and sequencing of appropriations and does not suggest the absence of development projects,” he said.

He said project schedules attached to the budget show ongoing NEDC interventions across the North East, including agricultural and food security programmes, orphanage construction and rehabilitation, reconstruction of internally displaced persons’ camps, borehole projects, security logistics, and constituency-level projects.

“Selective reading of a single budget line while ignoring accompanying schedules is not analysis—it is distortion,” Yakubu stated.

The Budget Office DG stressed that personnel costs are necessary for the commission to carry out its mandate effectively.

“They cover engineers, procurement officers, project managers, monitoring and evaluation teams, and fiduciary oversight staff. No development institution operates without institutional capacity,” he said.

Yakubu further assured that the NEDC operates within established accountability mechanisms, including the MTEF, annual Appropriation Acts, National Assembly oversight, quarterly budget performance reports, and statutory audits.

While welcoming public scrutiny, he cautioned against misinformation, saying claims portraying the NEDC as an agency existing solely to pay salaries are unfounded.

“Misinformation does not serve accountability, and ignorance of the budget process should not be weaponised as public commentary,” the statement concluded.