Yesterday, the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Regional Development stirred controversy by barring journalists from a budget defence session with Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh. 
 
The move, to shield the minister from intense scrutiny, followed allegations of a lopsided budget favouring Edo State.Also, the Senate expressed concern that the country had been groping in the dark for nearly two decades by relying on estimated population figures, an embarrassing trajectory for Africa’s largest economy. 
 
Momoh and his Minister of State, Uba Maigari, had been summoned to present the ministry’s 2024 budget performance and the proposed 2025 budget.   However, the session turned contentious as lawmakers raised concerns over the apparent disregard for federal character principles in the distribution of projects.
 
During the session, Matthew Nwogu (representing Aboh Mbaise/Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency) asked why 70 per cent of the ministry’s 2024 projects were concentrated in Edo, leaving other states under the purview of the defunct Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with little to no allocation.  His colleague in the House, Chinedu Ogar, re-echoed the sentiment, challenging the minister to explain why the proposed 2025 budget showed a similar pattern.
 
The House Committee Chairman, Eugene Okechukwu, attempted to defuse the tension by moving to an executive session, barring journalists from the proceedings. “We have to be mindful that press men are here. Let us go into an executive session to address these concerns,” Okechukwu said.
 
The media was then excused, leaving the lawmakers to deliberate behind closed doors.  In his presentation, Momoh revealed that the ministry’s proposed 2025 budget stood at N28.9 billion, with N24 billion allocated for capital projects, N2.7 billion for personnel costs, and N1.6 billion for recurrent expenditure.
 
However, he disclosed that N2 billion of the proposed budget was reserved for constituency projects in the district of the House of Representatives Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, who also hails from Edo.

THE Senate vowed to push for the conduct of a national population census before May 2027.  Senators are demanding an immediate solution to this glaring gap by conducting a biometric census in 2025, a move they said would revolutionise planning and governance.
 
 During a heated budget defence session with the National Population Commission (NPC), lawmakers decried the lack of accurate demographic data. Sen Abdul Ningi, leading the charge, described the situation as a “national disgrace.” Others, like Diket Plang, and Deputy Minority Leader, Olalere Oyewumi, warned against further delays, calling the reliance on foreign-sourced data as most unacceptable.
 
This commitment was reiterated during a budget defence session with the Chairman of NPC, Nasir Kwarra.  Ningi, said, “We will not rest on our oars until a census is conducted before this administration ends.”  He revealed that the Senate was preparing to meet President Bola Tinubu to stress the urgency of conducting the census in 2025.
 
“We will soon engage the President on this matter and formally write to him through the Senate President, highlighting the need for a census this year,” he said.
 
In a bold response, Kwarra revealed plans to implement a biometric census with the support of Tinubu.
 
“This technology ensures we count humans, not fishes or livestock,” Kwarra said, pledging a reliable and fraud-proof process. NPC’s proposed N18.2 billion budget for 2025 prioritises the census, with significant allocations for capital projects to support biometric systems. Lawmakers approved the proposal, emphasising the urgency of delivering accurate data for national development. For the Senate, the census is not just a routine exercise but the foundation for governance, economic strategy, and equitable resource distribution.