By Henry Umoru
ABUJA- THE Senate has raised the alarm over the operations of the North West Development Commission (NWDC), especially with regard to the delay in appointing executive directors, alleged internal divisions, and the spending of about N943 million on board allowances.
The Senate was particularly alarmed by documents indicating that out of N1.19 billion spent by the commission, N943 million went to allowances for members of the governing board, representing nearly 79 per cent of the expenditure under that subhead.
These were raised yesterday by the Senate Committee on Regional Development during an investigative session with officials of the commission and the Federal Ministry of Regional Development.
During the session, Senators requested to know why the NWDC has remained the only regional development commission that is working without executive directors, inspite of being among the first to be established by an Act of the National Assembly.
Speaking at the session, Minister of State for Regional Development, Alhaji Uba Maigari Ahmadu who told the committee that the ministry had intervened in the lingering dispute over office accommodation for the commission in Kano, explained that the NWDC initially operated from offices donated by private organisations, but disagreements over which facility should serve as its headquarters created friction between the board and management.
The Minister who noted that the Kano State Government has now provided a fully furnished office, operational vehicles and a plot of land for the commission, said that the ministry, board and management formally took over the facility last week and directed that all other offices be shut to end the controversy.
Ahmadu said, “The North West Development Commission is the only commission that does not yet have executive directors. Every other regional commission has its full management structure in place. Something urgent must be done for the commission to function effectively,” told the committee.
According to him, the absence of executive directors had weakened the commission’s management structure and contributed to its operational difficulties since inauguration, adding that although the board was inaugurated in February 2025 to prevent further delays in take-off, the Commission had continued to face one crisis after another.
The Minister also compared the situation in Kano with arrangements in other regions, noting that state governments in Enugu, Oyo and Nasarawa had provided office accommodation for their respective regional commissions without controversy.
He said that expectations were high that Kano State would do the same and that the latest intervention should finally end the office dispute.
During the session, Senators also raised concerns over delays in convening board meetings, the commission’s financial records and the scale of spending on board-related allowances.
Senators queried how the board could claim to have no cash backing while still undertaking official visits to governors and other stakeholders, just as they also questioned the payment of duty tour allowance to the Managing Director for a visit to the Governor of Kano State, despite the fact that the commission’s headquarters is in Kano, adding that the claim reportedly included air tickets, local transport and other running costs, and asked why such expenditure was necessary for what should have been a local engagement.
Lawmakers described the figure as disturbing and inconsistent with the purpose for which the commission was established — to bring development closer to the people of the North West and tackle pressing challenges, especially insecurity and infrastructure deficits.
The Chairman Governing board Abdullahi Lawal defended the board’s activities, saying its actions were backed by the North West Development Commission Act, 2024, just as he said that the board had held seven meetings five regular and two emergency sessions during which it passed 63 resolutions aimed at putting in place the institutional and policy framework for the commission.
According to him, the board approved standing orders, operational guidelines, committee structures, budget frameworks and fund allocation principles for the seven North West states. He added that committee activities and sitting allowances were lawful governance expenses under the commission’s establishing Act.
Lawal , however, drew a distinction between the approval of expenditure and the actual disbursement of funds. He said while the board approved legitimate governance expenses, responsibility for processing payments rested with the commission’s management, particularly the Managing Director and finance officials.
He also complained of what he described as the non-implementation of board resolutions, communication gaps and the slow execution of key operational decisions, all of which, he said, had hampered the smooth take-off of the commission.
Several Senators insisted that the ministry must take responsibility for the failure to complete the Commission’s management structure, especially the appointment of executive directors as they argued that the continued vacuum was undermining the effectiveness of the NWDC at a time when the North West urgently needs coordinated development intervention.
Lawmakers who also raised concerns over delays in staff recruitment and the implementation of the commission’s capital budget, despite approvals reportedly granted since February, stressed that the commission was created to address development deficits and insecurity in the region and should not be bogged down by administrative disputes and governance lapses.
The Committee then resolved to move into executive session to consider sensitive issues and receive further clarifications from officials.
