The Senate on Tuesday intensified its oversight of the South East Development Commission, ordering Mark Okoye II, the managing director/CEO, to account for alleged mismanagement of ₦16.6bn appropriated in the 2025 budget.
The scrutiny came during an investigative hearing by the Senate Committee on South East Development Commission, amid growing concerns over transparency in the utilisation of funds released to the relatively new regional development agency created to drive infrastructure and economic recovery in the South East.
SEDC was established on July 24, 2024, following President Bola Tinubu’s assent to the South-East Development Commission (Establishment) Bill, creating a dedicated regional development agency for the five South-East states.
Meanwhile, the committee, chaired by Senator Orji Kalu, raised serious objections to several items in the commission’s financial report, including ₦153m reportedly spent on renting a single-room liaison office in Abuja and another ₦2.5bn categorised as “implied expenditure.”
Trouble began when committee members reviewed the financial documents submitted by the SEDC leadership during the session, prompting immediate questions over how the ₦16.6bn released from the federal budget had been managed.
A visibly dissatisfied Kalu said preliminary findings from engagements with the Central Bank of Nigeria indicated that only ₦13bn remained from the initial ₦16.6bn disbursed to the commission in December last year, implying that about ₦3.6bn had already been spent without clear justification.
He said,
“This committee is disappointed with the financial report given, which is completely unacceptable.”
Other lawmakers on the committee, including Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe, Victor Umeh and Austin Akobundu, also expressed dissatisfaction with the presentation, describing key components of the report as inadequate and lacking transparency.
However, Okoye defended the commission’s expenditure, insisting that all funds so far utilised were deployed judiciously in line with priority projects and procurement realities.
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 N140bn does not automatically mean that N140bn in cash is available.
“It would be irresponsible to award contracts worth the entire budget if only N10 billion or N20 billion has actually been released. Doing so would create unfunded liabilities and a significant financial deficit”
Despite his explanation, the committee rejected the submission as insufficient and ordered the commission to return with detailed documentation.
Consequently, the panel directed the SEDC to submit comprehensive records, including contract details, payment schedules, and all supporting documents no later than 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,” he said.
The Chairman thereafter adjourned the session, stressing that the Senate expects full compliance and complete disclosure before further consideration of the commission’s financial operations.
