Federal budget office refutes claims of N246bn ‘salaries budget’ for NEDC

The Budget Office of the Federation has rejected claims that the North East Development Commission (NEDC) operates a N246 billion salaries budget, describing the narrative as false and based on a misunderstanding of Nigeria’s federal budgeting process.

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In a press statement issued on Wednesday, the Director General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, said the allegation was “misleading, inaccurate, and rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s budgeting framework.”

The clarification follows public commentary suggesting that the bulk of the NEDC’s allocation in the federal budget was devoted to personnel costs, with little allocated for development projects in the insurgency-affected North East.

Background

According to the Budget Office, the N246.77 billion figure being cited in public discourse does not represent a salaries-only allocation to the commission.

Mr Yakubu stated that, “contrary to claims circulating in the public domain, the ₦246.77 billion reflected against the NEDC in the budget is not a salaries-only allocation.”

He explained that the figure represents a statutory lump-sum provision presented in line with standard budgeting practices under the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

“It is a statutory lump-sum provision, initially presented at an aggregate level, consistent with established budget preparation practices for statutory and quasi-statutory bodies under the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF),” he said in his statement.

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‘Technical placeholder, not spending intent’

Stressing that the N244 billion allocation was not exclusively earmarked for personnel costs, Mr Yakubu explained that allocations, during the budget preparation process, can temporarily appear under personnel costs when agencies have not yet submitted detailed internal economic breakdowns.

“During budget preparation, where agencies do not submit complete internal economic breakdowns at the point of upload, allocations may temporarily appear under the Personnel Cost heading as a technical placeholder,” he stated.

Mr Yakubu said this practice is procedural and does not reflect how funds will ultimately be spent.

“This is a recognised procedural convention pending detailed submissions, legislative adjustments, and approved reallocations during budget execution,” Mr Yakubu said, adding that “this technical presentation must not be confused with spending intent.”

Capital expenditure and legislative adjustments

Addressing claims that only N2.7 billion was allocated to capital projects, the Budget Office stated that the figure resulted from decisions made by the National Assembly regarding the sequencing of appropriations.

According to him, “the ₦2.70 billion cited in public commentary reflects the National Assembly-approved rephrasing of capital votes in the 2025 budget, with approximately 70 per cent rolled into the 2026 fiscal year.”

Mr Yakubu said this adjustment was legislative in nature and “does not indicate a lack of development projects.”

Ongoing projects across the North-east

The Budget Office noted that detailed project schedules attached to the budget documents outline multiple interventions across the North-east.

These include agricultural support programmes, food security initiatives, orphanage construction and rehabilitation, reconstruction of internally displaced persons’ camps, borehole projects, security logistics, and constituency-level development projects.

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

Defence of personnel costs

Responding to criticism of personnel spending, the Budget Office said such costs are standard for development institutions.

Mr Yakubu said, “Personnel costs within a development commission are neither unusual nor improper,” noting that they support engineers, procurement officers, project managers, monitoring and evaluation teams, and fiduciary oversight functions.

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He added that “no development institution executes its mandate without institutional capacity.”

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

While welcoming scrutiny, he stressed the need for informed engagement, stating that “genuine public scrutiny is welcome and encouraged, but it must be informed by an understanding of how the budget system works.”

Call for responsible engagement

He described the claim that the NEDC exists merely to pay salaries as “unfounded.”

Mr Yakubu said such narratives “conflate technical budget presentation with actual expenditure intent, ignore legislative appropriation dynamics, and disregard project-level evidence already embedded in official documents.”

He, therefore, called for responsible engagement with fiscal information, warning that “misinformation does not serve accountability, and ignorance of the budget process should not be weaponised as public commentary.”