WATCH THE VIDEO HERE The Federal Government has allocated a total of N2,493,138,248,477 to regional development commissions in the proposed 2025 budget. The Bola Tinubu-led Federal Executive Council (FEC) established the Ministry of Regional Development in October 2024 to oversee all regional development commissions, including the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), North-West Development Commission, South-West Development Commission, and North-East Development Commission. This move resulted in the scrapping of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, which was created by then-President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on September 10, 2008. The allocations to the regional development commissions are as follows: The North-Central, comprising six states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), remains the only geo-political zone without a dedicated regional development commission. This omission has fueled heated discussions on social media, with many Nigerians calling for equity in federal allocations. The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), established in 2000, was the first of its kind, created to address developmental challenges in the oil-producing region. The North-East Development Commission (NEDC) followed in 2017, with a mandate to rebuild areas ravaged by insurgency. In December 2024, President Bola Tinubu presented a N49.7 trillion budget proposal for 2025 before a joint session of the National Assembly.
2025 budget: Regional Development Commissions to receive N2.49 trillion; NDDC, North-West, South-West take lion’s share
