The Senate on Tuesday confirmed nominees for the Governing Boards of the North West Development Commission (NWDC) and the South East Development Commission (SEDC) during a plenary session presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Professor Abdullahi Ma’aji and Mark Okoye were confirmed as the Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers of the NWDC and SEDC, respectively.
This decision followed the adoption of the report by the Ad Hoc Committee on Regional Development Commissions, chaired by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia-North).
Kalu said, “The nominees during the screening exercise proved their capacities to man the affairs of the respective development commissions”.
A brief controversy arose when some legislators attempted to invoke Order 1(b) to postpone the confirmation process for further consultations.
The motion was defeated as the Senate voted to proceed by dissolving into the Committee of the Whole to deliberate on the report.
The 14-member board for the NWDC is led by Alhaji Lawal Samai’la Abdullahi as Chairman and Prof. Abdullahi Ma’aji as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.
Other members of the NWDC board include Yahaya Umar Namahe, Aminu Suleiman, Ja’afar Sadeeq, Yahaya Abdullahi, Muhammad Wudil, Shamsu Sule, Nasidi Ali, Chukwu Chijtoke, Ahmed Mohammed, Ahmed Timasantyu, Macdonalds Uyi, and Babatunde Dada.
The 18-member board for the SEDC is led by Emeka Nworgu as Chairman and Mark Okoye as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.
Other members include Ugochukwu Agballah, Okey Kzenwa, Hyacinth Ikpor, Chidi Echeazu, Ifeanyi Agwu, Nasiru Usman, Hamma Adama, Ali Kumo, Edward Onoja, Orure Inima, Daniel Akwari, Joke Adebayo-Chukwuma, Stanley Ohajuruka (Executive Director, Finance), Sylvester Okonkwo (Executive Director, Corporate Services), Toby Okechukwu (Executive Director, Projects), Anthony Agbo (Executive Director, Commercial and Industrial Development), and Clifford Ogbede (Executive Director, Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Rural Development).
President Bola Tinubu had, four weeks earlier, submitted a revised list of nominees to the Senate for confirmation. The nominees were screened by Senator Kalu’s ad hoc committee on Monday.
During the screening, the committee urged the nominees to remain accountable and warned that the Senate would closely monitor their activities, ensuring swift action if they fail to meet expectations.
