4 months ago
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President Bola Tinubu has given the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) the approval to source for N1 trillion loan for the commission’s projects.
Mr Tinubu disclosed this on Friday at the Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit 2024 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The president, who was a special guest of honour at the summit, was represented by Godswill Akpabio, the president of the Nigerian Senate.
The Managing Director of the NDDC, Samuel Ogbuku, while defending the proposed N1.91 trillion 2024 budget of the commission before the House Committee on NDDC on Tuesday, said the agency would be taking a N1 trillion loan to fund some capital projects in the region.
He had said that the loan would be sourced from commercial and development banks to fund “legacy projects.”
In his remark at the summit, Mr Tinubu said, “The NDDC has never had the kind of budget that they are having in 2024.
“The president has approved that they can go ahead and get a soft loan of N1trillion to add to complete all the projects that they have in mind in order to bring quick development to this region.
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“So the MD of NDDC, it is no longer going to be a question of lack of fund, it going to be a question of commitment.”
Mr Tinubu added, “You are not going to have people come from Abuja, stay in hotels, and collect money from NDDC to spend in other states of the federation. You are going to spend the NDDC money right here in the Niger Delta region.”
The president expressed his commitment to “tackle” the East-West Road, which links the states in the Niger Delta region, as well as ensure the overall development of the region once known for its restiveness.
“The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road started by the president will not only start from Lagos, Mr President has also agreed that it must also take root from Niger Delta simultaneously then it will meet up with the one in Lagos.”
President Tinubu challenged the NDDC management to go into massive agricultural production, which could feed the Niger Delta region and other parts of Nigeria.
“The Niger Delta can feed itself even in terms of rice production. In agriculture, take up. Create fish ponds, and empower the people of the Niger Delta. Go ahead with swampy rice projects. Make sure we give rice to Nigeria. Let us not only be defined by oil; let us be defined by our agricultural output for the rest of this country,” he said.
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