The Senate Committee on Regional Development on Tuesday queried the operations of the North West Development Commission over the delayed appointment of executive directors, alleged governance challenges and the expenditure of about N943m on board allowances.
At an investigative session with officials of the commission and the Federal Ministry of Regional Development, lawmakers questioned why the NWDC remained the only regional development commission without executive directors, despite being among the first to be established under an Act of the National Assembly.
The committee chairman, Babangida Hussaini, also scrutinised the commission’s financial records, governance structure and implementation of its mandate, warning that administrative lapses were slowing development interventions in the North-West, a region grappling with insecurity and infrastructure deficits.
Appearing before the committee, the Minister of State for Regional Development, Alhaji Uba Ahmadu, disclosed that the ministry had intervened in the lingering dispute over the commission’s office accommodation in Kano.
He explained that the NWDC initially operated from office spaces donated by private organisations, but disagreements over which facility should serve as its headquarters created friction between the governing board and management.
