Ndume urges Tinubu to accommodate infrastructure projects for North-east in supplementary budget

Borno South Senator, Ali Ndume, has called on President Bola Tinubu to prioritise special infrastructural projects for the North-east in the 2025 supplementary budget, if presented to the National Assembly.

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Mr Ndume, a known critic of President Tinubu, made the call in a statement on Friday.

The senator, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), as the president, said the North-east has suffered neglect for over 15 years, with little or no meaningful infrastructure, leaving residents frustrated.

“Fifteen years down the line, there hasn’t been any meaningful infrastructural development in the North-east as it has been ravaged by the insurgents. In view of this, I suggest that the present administration should give priority to the region and make provision for its urgent infrastructural needs in the 2025 Supplementary Budget,” he said.

A supplementary budget is an additional spending plan submitted by the president to the National Assembly when the funds approved in the main budget are insufficient to meet urgent or unforeseen needs.

It is usually sent mid-year or late into the fiscal year to cover extra expenditures such as fuel subsidy payments, election logistics, emergency security operations, or natural disasters.

Since Nigeria’s return to democracy, successive governments have relied on supplementary budgets to top up their main fiscal plans.

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Former President Muhammadu Buhari, for instance, frequently used them to finance security operations against Boko Haram in the North-east, banditry in the North-west, and IPOB activities in the South-east. His administration also deployed supplementary budgets to fund COVID-19 interventions, purchase military hardware, and cover recurrent expenses during oil revenue shortfalls.

In 2021, Buhari presented a N895 billion supplementary budget, largely for military operations and vaccines.

Similarly, in 2023, Mr Tinubu proposed a N2.1 trillion supplementary budget following fuel subsidy removal to cushion economic effects, provide student loans and palliatives, and boost national security.

Although Mr Tinubu had promised to present another supplementary budget in 2024, it did not materialise. It remains uncertain whether he will propose one this year, as the capital component of the 2024 budget is still in effect until December.

Currently, Nigeria is operating two budgets simultaneously, the extended capital component of the 2024 budget and the 2025 budget of about N54.2 trillion, which lawmakers increased by N7 billion from the president’s original proposal.

Push for special projects in North-east

The North-east comprises six states: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe.

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On Wednesday, governors from the region met with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa to push for infrastructural development, including completion of road projects and resumption of oil exploration at the Kolmani and Lake Chad frontier wells.

Mr Ndume commended the governors’ initiative and urged the president to act urgently, noting that security in the region has improved, a situation that would create an enabling environment for contractors.

“Now that insurgents have receded as a result of efforts by our military, who have regained lost ground, contractors can now move to sites.”