Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • Enugu Governor, Peter Mbah To Dump PDP For APC Tuesday
    • Travellers Stranded On Maiduguri–Damaturu Highway After Boko Haram Attack On Military Base
    • ‘My Hope Is Renewed’, Farouk Lawan Speaks After Tinubu’s Presidential Pardon
    • Bill Gates, Sam Amuka, Ogoni Heroes, Others Make Tinubu’s 959 Honours List
    • ‘Justice For The People, Not Procedures’, Osinbajo Slams Supreme Court Over Technical Judgments
    • Zulum Orders Immediate Probe Into Alleged Harassment Of Muslim Women Over Hijab In Borno Hospitals
    • Fashola, Bonuola, Media Icons, Scholars Celebrate Hakeem Bello At 60
    • National Assembly Probes NNPCL Over $18bn Refineries Spending
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    NEWS POINT NIGERIANEWS POINT NIGERIA
    UBA 720X90
    • HOME
    • NEWS

      Enugu Governor, Peter Mbah To Dump PDP For APC Tuesday

      October 10, 2025

      Travellers Stranded On Maiduguri–Damaturu Highway After Boko Haram Attack On Military Base

      October 10, 2025

      ‘My Hope Is Renewed’, Farouk Lawan Speaks After Tinubu’s Presidential Pardon

      October 10, 2025

      Bill Gates, Sam Amuka, Ogoni Heroes, Others Make Tinubu’s 959 Honours List

      October 10, 2025

      ‘Justice For The People, Not Procedures’, Osinbajo Slams Supreme Court Over Technical Judgments

      October 10, 2025
    • COLUMN

      What Will They Eat When They Finish The Money? – By Azu Ishiekwene

      October 10, 2025

      I, Too, Must Get American In-Laws, The Efficacy Of Prayers And Other Matters (2) – By Dr Hassan Gimba

      October 6, 2025

      Saving Democracy: The Urgency Of Electoral Reforms – By Dr Dakuku Peterside

      October 6, 2025

      Nigeria’s 2025 Science Prize: When Integrity Matters – By Kazeem Akintunde

      October 6, 2025

      Message From Cry, The Beloved Country – By Martins Oloja

      October 6, 2025
    • EDUCATION

      FG Names Prof. Adamu Acting Vice-Chancellor To Steer UniAbuja For Three Months

      August 9, 2025

      13 Countries Offering Free Or Low-Cost PhD Programmes For Non-Citizens

      January 25, 2025

      NECO: Abia, Imo Top Performing States In Two Years, Katsina, Zamfara Come Last

      October 3, 2024

      NBTE Accredits 17 Programmes At Federal Polytechnic Kabo

      August 20, 2024

      15 Most Expensive Universities In Nigeria

      May 19, 2024
    • INTERNATIONAL

      Hamas Gets Guarantees Of End To Gaza War, Israel Approves Ceasefire

      October 10, 2025

      NY Attorney General Letitia James, A Trump Foe, Indicted For Fraud

      October 10, 2025

      WHO Details Harrowing Scenes Of Gaza Horrific Trauma Patients

      October 9, 2025

      Former FBI Chief, James Comey To Make First US Court Appearance On Trump’s Charges

      October 9, 2025

      Hamas Seeks ‘Guarantees’ That Israel Will End Gaza War As Talks Continue

      October 8, 2025
    • JUDICIARY

      FULL LIST: Judicial Council Recommends Appointment Of 11 Supreme Court Justices

      December 6, 2023

      Supreme Court: Judicial Council Screens 22 Nominees, Candidates Face DSS, Others

      November 29, 2023

      FULL LIST: Judicial Commission Nominates 22 Justices For Elevation To Supreme Court

      November 16, 2023

      Seven Key Issues Resolved By Seven Supreme Court Judges

      October 26, 2023

      FULL LIST: CJN To Swear In Falana’s Wife, 57 Others As SANs November 27

      October 12, 2023
    • POLITICS

      What Peter Obi May Lose If He Joins Coalition As VP Candidate

      May 25, 2025

      Atiku Moves To Unseat Wike’s Damagum As PDP Chairman, Backs Suswam As Replacement

      April 15, 2024

      Edo’s Senator Matthew Uroghide, Others Defect To APC

      April 13, 2024

      Finally, Wike Opens Up On Rift With Peter Odili

      April 2, 2024

      El-Rufa’i’s Debt Burden: APC Suspends Women Leader For Criticising Kaduna Gov

      March 31, 2024
    • SPORTS

      Iwobi Speaks On World Cup Qualification, Uncle Jay-Jay Okocha, Premier League Appearance Record

      October 10, 2025

      Galatasaray Plot All-Nigerian Strike Force With Move For Lookman After Osimhen Coup

      October 10, 2025

      Mikel Obi Reveals Winning Formula For Super Eagles’ World Cup Qualification

      October 9, 2025

      Ronaldo Becomes Football’s First Billionaire, Eyes 2026 World Cup

      October 9, 2025

      Osimhen, Lookman, 15 Others Arrive South Africa For Crucial World Cup Qualifier

      October 8, 2025
    • MORE
      • AFRICA
      • ANALYSIS
      • BUSINESS
      • ENTERTAINMENT
      • FEATURED
      • LENS SPEAK
      • INFO – TECH
      • INTERVIEW
      • NIGERIA DECIDES
      • OPINION
      • Personality Profile
      • Picture of the month
      • Science
      • Special Project
      • Videos
      • Weekend Sports
    NEWS POINT NIGERIANEWS POINT NIGERIA
    UBA 720X90
    Home - What Will They Eat When They Finish The Money? – By Azu Ishiekwene

    What Will They Eat When They Finish The Money? – By Azu Ishiekwene

    By Azubuike IshiekweneOctober 10, 2025
    Azu

    THE grave is never satisfied, but other things compete with it for insatiability. I can’t help feeling that some members of Nigeria’s National Assembly will vie for the top place of never enough with the grave, water and fire. Enough is a stranger to them. What happens in these chambers in Abuja, in the name of the people, only God knows.

    That’s not to suggest that other arms of government are significantly better. But when we reach the point where we have to decide whose greed is eating us more, then we’re in trouble.

    Last week, the Senate Committee on the North Central Development Commission (NCDC) said it had approved N140 billion for the commission in the 2025 fiscal year, which has three months remaining.

    UBA

    Yielding To Overcome
    The commission, which couldn’t wait to be born in February, obviously cannot also wait to get its own share of the national cake. Coming after the establishment of development commissions in the North East and North West, and well ahead of the promise of similar commissions in three other regions, the NCDC is enjoying the benefit of copying all the bad habits of the existing ones and setting a higher standard of crookedness for others to follow.

    And in the “rub-my-back-I-rub-yours” politics of the National Assembly, the management of the NCDC can count on Abuja politicians for help. That explains why the Senate Committee approved N140 billion with the charm of a smitten lover.

    Independence Day

    “After a careful look at the issues contained in the budget,” the committee chairman, Titus Zam (from Benue State) said, “and the eloquent presentation by the MD and his team, the committee has approved the budget of N140 billion as presented by the commission.”

    Devil In The Detail
    According to the press reports, the budget has now been forwarded to the House committee. Still, we do not have the details of the MD’s “eloquent presentation.” We are also not told of the extent of scrutiny by the Senate committee – only that the committee was so impressed it may well have approved the N140 billion for three months blindfolded.

    Happy Birthday

    But the details provided in the LEADERSHIP report of Friday, October 3, capture the elephant in the room. It gives details of the three-month budget, with an imprint all over of the type of concession typically made when parties are in an overwhelmingly delicate position behind closed doors.

    According to LEADERSHIP’s report, the commission will receive N10 billion for cars, N9 billion for travels, and N1.2 billion for telephone calls, apart from its claim to spend N6 billion on unnamed “humanitarian projects.”

    Nigerian TAX Reform - Federal Goverment

    The percentage of capital expenditure to the total budget is 41.6 percent, with recurrent spending accounting for 58.3 percent. Nearly eight percent of the total budget is for travel to the moon and back.

    Chasing Shadows
    It’s possible to argue that the current executive of the NCDC did not prepare this scandalous budget; that it was part of the 2025 budget prepared by the Executive before the inauguration of the board, and passed by the National Assembly.

    In other words, the Executive laid the foundation for this monstrosity by voting billions of naira in advance for a non-existent commission based on estimates. What the executive may have done was to remove N5.6 billion from the appropriation of the North West Development Commission (NWDC), which had a vote of N145.6 billion and assigned the balance to the NCDC, with little or zero presence of mind to size (there are seven states in the North West compared with six in the North Central), or population (the North West, by some estimates is twice the population of the North Central). The jury is out on which of the two zones has been more badly impacted by insurgency.

    National Orientation Agency Page UP
    National Orientation Agency - Down

    If it has taken the commission nine months after it was formed to get a board, and with only three months to the end of this year, why railroad the commission’s budget when it would also be appropriated for in the 2026 budget?

    Just Spend It!
    If the Senate committee is genuinely interested in oversight and nothing else, why not review the budget, as it has only a few months left of its lifecycle, and let the new board make and defend its subsequent request in the 2026 budget?

    This eloquent scandal was not a mistake. It was intentional, with some assistance from all the interested parties, including civil servants in the National Assembly, who may have even secured contracts for the supply of the N10 billion SUVs or awarded contracts for “humanitarian services” once the budget was approved.

    The committee and the new board know that anything that subjects this oversized budget to scrutiny is not good for “rub-my-back-I-rub-yours.” So, if money has been appropriated, why bother about the details? Just spend it!

    It’s the sort of reckless spending that dragged the North East Development Commission (NEDC) into a needless controversy over whether or not a former secretary to the Government of the Federation used N544 million for grass cutting.

    Too much money and a lack of common sense are why various intervention agencies across the country have lost their way, serving politicians and their greed instead of the citizens in whose name they were established. Yet, it’s never enough!

    Is the leadership of either chamber seriously interested in curtailing this mess? Perhaps. And you only need to follow the money to know why.

    In The Name Of The Constituency
    Insiders informed me that while each Rep receives N1 billion for constituency projects and a senator gets N2 billion, the leaders each appropriate eloquent sums ranging from N19 billion to N120 billion. And once the leaders have helped themselves and secured their constituency allocation from the budget, they leave the rank and file to use so-called oversight functions as toll gates.

    This nonsense cannot continue. There is more than enough to reward politicians genuinely interested in service, but not enough to feed their greed, after which we might be next on their menu list.

    Eyes On The House
    The House committee for reviewing the budget cannot afford to be a rubber stamp. Committee members may be tempted to argue that the sum is already included in the 2025 budget and should therefore be approved as is. That is wrong and can only be a calculated move to serve members’ interest, rather than those of the people of the North Central, who are neither on the speed dial for the N1.2 billion set aside for phone calls nor the N10 billion for cars.

    The National Assembly, through the House, is getting one more chance to redeem itself from the eloquent scandal charmingly expressed by the Senate committee chairman. Let’s see what happens.

    • Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the book Writing for Media and Monetising It.

    Azu Ishiekwene's Column Grave National Assembly Spending
    Share. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp LinkedIn Telegram Email

    Related Posts

    National Assembly Probes NNPCL Over $18bn Refineries Spending

    October 10, 2025

    Tinubu Seeks National Assembly’s Approval To Borrow $2.35bn

    October 8, 2025

    National Assembly Warns Protesting Workers To Steer Clear Of Plenary Disruption

    October 6, 2025

    I, Too, Must Get American In-Laws, The Efficacy Of Prayers And Other Matters (2) – By Dr Hassan Gimba

    October 6, 2025
    Add A Comment
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Latest Posts

    Enugu Governor, Peter Mbah To Dump PDP For APC Tuesday

    October 10, 2025

    Travellers Stranded On Maiduguri–Damaturu Highway After Boko Haram Attack On Military Base

    October 10, 2025

    ‘My Hope Is Renewed’, Farouk Lawan Speaks After Tinubu’s Presidential Pardon

    October 10, 2025

    Bill Gates, Sam Amuka, Ogoni Heroes, Others Make Tinubu’s 959 Honours List

    October 10, 2025

    ‘Justice For The People, Not Procedures’, Osinbajo Slams Supreme Court Over Technical Judgments

    October 10, 2025
    Advertisement
    WIDGET ADS
    News Point NG
    © 2025 NEWS POINT NIGERIA Developed by ENGRMKS & CO.
    • Home
    • About us
    • Disclaimer
    • Our Advert Rates
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Join Us On WhatsApp