The managing director of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Mohammed Alkali, said the high inflation rate and the floating of the naira had negatively affected the successful implementation of the commission’s master plan.

Mr Alkali said this on Tuesday when he received in his office the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) Postmortem Sub-Committee, led by its chairman, Kabir Mashi, in Abuja.

The NEDC chief identified a paucity of funds as another challenge hampering the hitch-free implementation of their master plan.

He said as of June 2022, the implementation of the North-East Stabilisation and Development Masterplan (NESDMP) was expected to cost N31.05 trillion.

“As you know, the issue with naira to dollar equivalent and so when you calculate the funding available to the Commission vis-a-vis the funding of the North-East stabilisation and development masterplan, it needed to be improved,” he said.

Mr Alkali explained that the current economic situation and the debacle of exchange rates might further escalate the situation, making it difficult for the commission to achieve its targets.

He, however, said even with the successes recorded by security forces in the fight against insurgency, there are areas that are not accessible due to the activities of some of the insurgents still operating.

According to him, NEDC is doing its best to address the socio-economic problems of the people in the region.

Mr Alkali thanked the visitors for identifying with the commission at this critical time and urged them to support it in delivering on its mandate.

Earlier, Mr Mashi said the sub-committee’s visit was to seek collaboration with the commission to enable it to achieve its mandate.

Mr Mashi added that the sub-committee was constituted in July 2004 by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to examine revenue accruals into the federation accounts presented by generating agencies.

He also said the committee is responsible for making detailed analysis regarding the management of the federation account.

Mr Mashi, therefore, expressed optimism that the collaboration would yield positive results for the benefit of the people of the region. 

(NAN)