A former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Bitrus Kaze, has faulted the federal government and other stakeholders in the North-Central for the omission of the North-Central Development Commission (NCDC) from the 2025 budget proposal.
Recall that the Senate in July 2024 passed a bill for the establishment of the North-Central Development Commission to strengthen the economy and infrastructural development in the geopolitical zone.
In the 2025 proposed budget presented by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly, five geo-political zones Development Commissions for the North-West, North East, South-East, South-South, and South-West—were captured while the North-Central was omitted.
Speaking on this development, Hon. Kaze, who said the non-inclusion of the geopolitical zone in the budget was a clear case of injustice wondered why five out of the six zones in the country could have development commissions and that of the North-Central is still hanging.
“We are aware that the Senate passed the bill for the establishment of the Commission in July last year; it could have been accented before the presentation of the budget instead of leaving out the North-Central. Unfortunately, the political zone did not have its Development Commission like any other geopolitical zone in the country.
He narrated that the North-Central, comprising Plateau, Niger, Nasarawa, Kogi, Benue, and Kwara, were very strategic in terms of the development of Nigeria and have, at the same time, suffered a series of attacks that have crippled it economically.
” I think one of the reasons has to do with the lackluster attitude of our people. Also, in present-day Nigeria, one of the attitudes among Nigerians is that the moment you get your own, you don’t care about other zones.
“When the North Central region was at the centre of the crisis, the nation didn’t show sufficient concern and move in to nip the matter in the bud until it went to the Northeast and other parts of the country that the nation started showing concern.
‘However, the puzzle is how the North East gets a Development Commission ahead of the North Central considering what the zone has passed through in terms of crisis and is still passing through. The crisis started in the North Central, but attention was not given until it spread to other parts of the North.
“How on earth can the North East get a commission ahead of the North Central, considering the fact that it is the North Central that has suffered under development and security challenges much earlier than the North East? It is a clear case of injustice; what is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. The North Central ought to have the Development Commission before the North East.
The former federal lawmaker therefore called on the federal government and the national assembly to find a way of accommodating the North Central Development Commission in the budget for 2025.
