The Senate on Tuesday stepped up its oversight of the South East Development Commission. They called its Managing Director, Mark Okoye, to explain the alleged mismanagement of ₦16.6bn budgeted for 2025.
This scrutiny happened during an investigative hearing by the Senate Committee on South East Development Commission. There are rising worries about how funds given to this new regional development agency are being used. The agency was set up to improve infrastructure and boost the economy in the South East.
Senator Orji Kalu, who chairs the committee, raised serious issues about the commission’s financial report. This included ₦153m spent on renting a small liaison office in Abuja and another ₦2.5bn listed as “implied expenditure.”
The trouble started when committee members looked through the financial documents that the SEDC leadership provided during the session. They quickly began to question how the ₦16.6bn from the federal budget had been handled.
A clearly unhappy Kalu said early findings from talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria showed that only ₦13bn was left from the original ₦16.6bn given to the commission last December. This means around ₦3.6bn has already been used without proper explanation.
He said, “This committee is disappointed with the financial report given, which is completely unacceptable.”
Other lawmakers, including Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe, Victor Umeh, and Austin Akobundu, also showed their disappointment with the report. They said important parts of it were not clear and lacked transparency.
Okoye defended the commission's spending. He claimed that all the money spent was used wisely for priority projects and based on the realities of procurement.
He said, “Our approach has been to ensure that available resources are directed towards priority projects. We want allocations to guide the procurement process so that contracts awarded can be backed by available funding.
“What we want to avoid is a situation where contracts are awarded without the financial capacity to execute them. For example, having a budget of ₦140bn does not automatically mean that ₦140bn in cash is available.
“It would be irresponsible to award contracts worth the entire budget if only ₦10 billion or ₦20 billion has actually been released. Doing so would create unfunded liabilities and a significant financial deficit.”
Despite his defense, the committee found his explanations lacking and ordered the commission to come back with more details.
The panel told the SEDC to submit thorough records, including contract details, payment schedules, and all supporting documents by the 23rd of this month.
“By the 23rd, we want to have the complete documentation. Once we receive and review the documents, we will determine the date for your next appearance before the committee,” Kalu said.
The Chairman then closed the session, stressing that the Senate wants full compliance and complete disclosure before they look further into the commission’s financial activities.
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