The Senate on Tuesday confirmed all the nominees for the Governing Boards of the North West Development Commission (NWDC) and the South East Development Commission (SEDC).

The Senate, presided by the Senate President Godswill Akpabio, confirmed Mark Okoye as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the SEDC and and Professor Abdullahi Shehu Ma’aji for the NWDC.

The Senate gave its final confirmation after the Ad-Hoc Committee on Regional Development Commissions led by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia-North) submitted the report of its screening exercise.

According to Kalu’s report, the nominees had during the screening proved their capacities to man the affairs of the respective Development Commissions.

A mild drama, however, ensued as some legislators made a move to invoke Order (1b) to step down the confirmation process for further consultations.

The move was, however, unsuccessful as the Senate voted to dissolve into the Committee of the Whole to consider the report in the course of which all the nominees of both Commissions were approved.

The confirmed nominees are the 14 board-member nominees of the NWDC led by Alhaji Lawal Samai’la Abdullahi as Chairman of the commission 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 Chijioke, Ahmed Mohammed, Engr. Ahmed Rufai Timasantyu, Macdonalds Michael Uyi, and Hon. Babatunde Dada.

For the South-East Development Commission, Dr. Emeka Nworgu was also confirmed as Chairman and Hon. Mark Okoye as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Others in the 18-member nominees are Barr. Ugochukwu H. Agballah, Hon. Okey Ezenwa, Chief 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 (ED Finance), Chief Sylvester Okonkwo (ED Corporate Services), Hon. Toby Okechukwu (ED Projects), Sen. Anthony Agbo (ED Commercial and Industrial Development), and Dr. Clifford Ogbede (ED Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development).

Nigeria News Source 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.

Consequently, Senate President Godswill Akpabio who presided over the plenary referred the nominees to undergo grilling by an Ad-Hoc Committee it created chaired by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.

During the screening held on Monday, members of the committee sternly warned the nominees for the Governing Boards not to fail Nigerians, adding that they would be closely monitored and that the Senate won’t hesitate to expedite their sack if found wanting.

Kalu in his speech re-emphasised the importance of accountability and transparency in the governance of the development commissions.

Shortly after adopting the report of Kalu’s committee, the nominees were confirmed via voice votes after Senate President Akpabio put it into question.