Victor EzejaNortheast Development Commission (NEDC) has made a demand for an increase of allocation from Valued Added Tax (VAT) and Ecological Fund to the commission from three to five percent.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, NEDC, Mohammed Alkali, made the demand during a meeting held on Wednesday between officials of the commission and members of the National Assembly from the region to chart the way forward on the North-East Stabilisation and Development Masterplan Project (NESDMP).
Alkali said the commission needed more funds to execute the NESDMP which is a 10-year project in the Northeast, adding that what was currently offered was inadequate to take care of development needs in the region.
“We need increment in the VAT and Ecological Fund from three percent to five percent, if anything happens to the VAT and the ecological funds it will affect our operations.
“So, we want the ratio to be increased from three percent to five percent to help us run the activities of the commission effectively,” Alkali appealed about VAT and Ecological Fund.
The NEDC was established in October 2017 to anchor the Federal Government’s development intervention projects in the region which is made up of six states- Adamawa Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.
The commission currently receives three per cent allocation both from VAT and Ecological Fund and had a total of N46.1 billion allocated to it in the 2021 budget.
Consultant for the NESDMP, Dr Kasim Gidado explained how the region would be developed within a ten-year period using the master plan.
“The master plan is from 2020 to 2030. We identify 11 pillars in the master plan with five main areas,” Gidado said.
He added that 80 percent of the development projects would be funded through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative.
Also, Dr Mohammed Ahmed, another consultant for NEDC stated that based on the 2016 assessment by the World Bank and the European Union, the commission would require over $9.6 billion to fix the infrastructural needs of the North East.
Speaking at the meeting, the leader of the North East Caucus in the National Assembly, Senator Danjuma Goje, said the meeting was necessary to enable them have first-hand information on the project by the commission to enable members of the parliament to make important interventions.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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