2026: Senate directs NCDC to focus on agriculture, security

From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja

The Senate has charged the management of the North-Central Development Commission (NCDC) to give priority attention to the development of agriculture and security matters in its 2026 budget, stressing that the two sectors are critical to the socio-economic stability of the region.

This directive was issued by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on NCDC, Titus Zam, during the commission’s appearance before the committee to defend its 2026 budget proposal

He gave the charge at the budget defence of the agency before the committee at the National Assembly. It entered into a closed-door session afterwards.

Speaking with journalists after the session, Zam said the committee was satisfied with the general framework of the budget but insisted that spending priorities must reflect the commission’s core development mandate.

“We have considered all the items on the estimates and found them very relevant and useful for the north-central region.

“As a committee overseeing this commission, we have requested them to prioritise their expenditures in line with their mandate so that people of North-Central region will benefit from their services and have value for resources that are allocated to them,” he said.

According to him, the commission’s development role must be anchored on tangible interventions across key sectors of the economy, rather than being merely theoretical.

He identified agriculture, security, health, education, public infrastructure and social services as priority areas requiring urgent attention.

“The specific development mandate of the commission cannot just be in vacuum; it has to fill certain sectors of the economy.

“You know that North Central is mostly agricultural and so agriculture must take a pride of place and it has been so embedded in their budget,” Zam stated.

On security, the lawmaker disclosed that the commission plans to collaborate with security professionals and stakeholders across the region to support efforts aimed at stabilising communities.

“They are also thinking about working with security experts and other stakeholders in the North Central region to see to it that they support security agencies to deliver on their mandate,” he added.

However, Zam expressed the committee’s dissatisfaction with the execution of the capital component of the Commission’s 2025 budget, describing the shortfall as part of a broader national challenge.

He noted that the poor implementation was not peculiar to the NCDC, pointing out that the 2025 budget generally faced significant execution difficulties.

On the overall financial size of the proposal, Zam said the committee had reviewed and approved the commission’s N140 billion budget estimate for the 2026 fiscal year, subject to appropriation.

“According to him, the committee considered the total estimate of N140 billion for 2026 financial year of the commission and gave approval for utilisation of the fund due to be appropriated for good of the region.

“This is the resolution of the committee. We, hereby, approve N140 billion for the 2026 financial year for the Commission,” he said.