Four weeks ago, President Bola Tinubu submitted a revised list of nominees for the governing boards of the regional development commissions to the senate for confirmation.
The senate has confirmed Mark Okoye and Professor Abdullahi Shehu Ma’aji as Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers of the South-East Development Commission (SEDC) and North-West Development Commission (NWDC), respectively. These confirmations were announced during Tuesday’s plenary session, presided over by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
The approvals were sequel to a screening exercise carried out by the ad-hoc committee on regional development commissions led by Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia north) and the subsequent presentation of the report at plenary.
Presenting the committee’s report, Kalu highlighted that the nominees demonstrated the requisite competence to lead their respective commissions effectively.
However, the process faced a brief setback when some senators attempted to invoke Order 1(b) to delay the confirmation for further consultations. The move failed after the senate voted to dissolve into the committee of the whole to deliberate on the report, ultimately approving all nominees.
The confirmed nominees for the NWDC are: Lawal Samai’la Abdullahi as chairman and Professor Abdullahi Shehu Ma’aji as managing director and chief executive officer.
Others are; Dr. Yahaya Umar Namahe, Hon. Aminu Suleiman, Ja’afar Abubakar Sadeeq, Yahaya Aminu Abdullahi, Hon. Engr Muhammad Ali Wudil, Shamsu Sule, Nasidi Ali, Chukwu Chijtoke, Ahmed Mohammed, Engr. Ahmed Rufai Timasantyu, Macdonalds Michael Uyi And Hon. Babatunde Dada.
The 18-member nominees of the South-East Development Commission are led by Dr. Emeka Nworgu who was confirmed as chairman and Mark Okoye as the managing director and chief executive officer.
Others are; Barr. Ugochukwu H. Agballah, Hon. Okey kzenwa, Hyacinth Ikpor , Chidi Echeazu, Barr. Ifeanyi Agwu, Nasiru Usman, Hamma Adama Ali Kumo Edward David Onoja, Orure Kufre Inima, Daniel Akwari, Chief (Mrs) Joke Adebayo-Chukwuma, Rt. Hon. Stanley Ohajuruka (E.D. Finance), Chief Sylvester Okonkwo (E.D. Corporate Services, Hon. Toby Okechukwu (E.D. Projects), Sen, Anthony Agbo (E.D. Commercial and Industrial Development ) and Dr. Clifford Ogbede (E.D. Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development).
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OrderPaper recalls that four weeks ago, President Bola Tinubu submitted a revised list of nominees for the Governing Boards of the Regional Development Commissions to the Senate for confirmation.
Following this, Akpabio set up an ad-hoc committee chaired by Kalu to screen the nominees.
During the screening, committee members cautioned the nominees to uphold high ethical standards, warning that the Senate would monitor their performance and take swift action if they fell short. Kalu emphasised the critical need for transparency and accountability in managing the development commissions.
The Senate adopted the committee’s report, and Akpabio conducted a voice vote to confirm the nominees.
STAR Check: Nigerians, particularly, constituents of Abia North district, can keep tabs on the legislative performance of Sen. Kalu throughout the 10th senate here.
