The Budget Office of the Federation has debunked the trending news that the North East Development Commission (NEDC) operated a N246 billion “salaries budget”, describing the claim as misleading, inaccurate, and rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of the Federal Government’s budgeting framework.
The Director-General of the Office, Tanimu Yakubu, stated that contrary to the rumours in the public domain on the allocations to the commission, the ₦246.77 billion being peddled as the NEDC’s salaries allocation, the amount was 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).
Yakubu maintained that 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.
According to him, this is a recognised procedural convention pending detailed submissions, legislative adjustments, and approved reallocations during budget execution and that this technical presentation must not be confused with spending intent.
- Advertisement -
The Director-General further clarified that with respect to capital expenditure, the N2.70 billion cited in rumours reflected the National Assembly-approved rephrasing of capital votes in the 2025 budget, with approximately 70% rolled into the 2026 fiscal year in line with legislative decision regarding the timing and sequencing of appropriations and does not indicate a lack of development projects.
He further clarified: “Indeed, project schedules attached to the same budget documents show multiple ongoing interventions across the North East, including agricultural support programmes, food security initiatives, orphanage construction and rehabilitation, IDP camp reconstruction, boreholes, 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.
“Personnel costs within a development commission are neither unusual nor improper. They fund engineers, procurement officers, project managers, monitoring and evaluation teams, and fiduciary oversight required to design, supervise, and deliver projects effectively. No development institution executes its mandate without institutional capacity.
“The NEDC operates within well-defined accountability frameworks, including the MTEF, annual Appropriation Acts, National Assembly oversight, quarterly budget performance reporting, and statutory audits. Genuine public scrutiny is welcome and encouraged, but it must be informed by an understanding of how the budget system works.
“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”, the Director-General added.
He urged commentators and members of the public to engage responsibly with fiscal information as as misinformation will not serve accountability, and ignorance of the budget process should not be used as public commentary.
