- …Over N5bn allegedly misappropriated in under two years
- …Stakeholders cite non-performance, loss of public trust
- …Civil society plans protests in Abuja next week
By Juliet Ibimina
After decades of agitation and advocacy, the establishment of the South-East Development Commission, SEDC, was hailed as a landmark achievement and a long-overdue instrument of regional justice. Today, however, that historic moment risks being eclipsed by deepening outrage, as community leaders, civil society organisations and professional groups accuse the commission of non-performance, opacity and alleged financial impropriety.
Signed into law on July 24, 2024, the SEDC was conceived as a regional development agency to address the South-East’s peculiar challenges – post-war neglect, crumbling infrastructure, severe erosion, weak industrial capacity and rising youth unemployment. Modelled in part on the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, it was expected to serve as a catalyst for reconstruction, rehabilitation and sustainable growth across the five states of the region.
For many in the South-East and the Igbo diaspora, its creation was not merely administrative but symbolic: a statement of inclusion and a corrective to decades of perceived marginalisation. Expectations were therefore high that the commission would deliver strategic interventions, restore confidence in federal development initiatives and unlock the region’s vast entrepreneurial potential. But less than two years later, that optimism has given way to disillusionment.
Stakeholders now contend that despite receiving substantial federal allocations running into billions of naira, the SEDC has failed to demonstrate tangible impact in priority sectors such as roads, healthcare, education, industrial revitalisation and youth employment. They also allege that the commission has offered little public accounting of its finances, particularly with respect to logistics and operational expenditure.
These criticisms have been most forcefully articulated by organised Igbo groups in Abuja and across the South-East, who argue that the agency has strayed dangerously from its founding mandate. The Igbo Community Association in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, representing thousands of South-Easterners resident in Abuja, has dismissed recent explanations by the commission’s Managing Director, Mr Mark Okoye, as inadequate.
The association’s President-General, Engr. Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe, described the commission as a “glaring failure” that has neither articulated a clear development roadmap nor delivered visible projects. “There is no publicly defined strategy, no transparent pipeline of interventions and no meaningful engagement with the people,” he said. “Instead, the commission appears to have become a vehicle for political patronage rather than a tool for regional transformation. The South-East will not accept this.”
Such sentiments are increasingly echoed across the region, intensifying pressure on the commission’s leadership. For many, the issue goes beyond bureaucratic inefficiency to a fundamental betrayal of the public trust that accompanied the SEDC’s creation.
The strongest indictment to date came at the inaugural meeting of the Igbo Renaissance Union (IRU), a policy and advocacy group focused on regional development and national integration. Its President, Dr Philip Ukonu, described the SEDC as a “jamboree institution” that had failed to translate lofty promises into concrete action.
According to Dr Ukonu, the commission’s difficulties are structural, rooted in what he characterised as a patronage-driven composition rather than one grounded in competence, expertise and development orientation. “From inception, the body was stuffed with incompatible interests and political loyalists,” he said. “What we are witnessing is a fraudulent arrangement masquerading as a development institution, one defined by negligence, moral bankruptcy and a betrayal of public trust.”
He further alleged that shortly after billions of naira were released to the commission, expenditure priorities shifted towards luxury travel, conferences and social engagements, while critical infrastructure projects remained stalled or non-existent. In a region burdened by poor road networks, overstretched public facilities and chronic unemployment, such claims have fuelled anger and resentment.
Dr Ukonu warned that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu now bears both moral and political responsibility to intervene decisively. Failure to dismantle and reconstitute the commission, he argued, would amount to tacit endorsement of waste and patronage, and would further erode confidence in federal development interventions in the South-East. “Only a total reset can restore credibility. The South-East deserves development, not excuses,” he said.
Underlying these criticisms is a broader context of longstanding regional grievances. For decades, the South-East has lagged behind other parts of the country in major federal infrastructure investments, industrial clusters and large-scale development initiatives. Roads linking key commercial centres remain in disrepair; erosion has devastated communities and farmland; public hospitals and schools struggle under heavy strain; and young people face shrinking opportunities.
The SEDC was intended to mark a turning point, a coordinated, well-funded and professionally managed platform to reverse these trends and catalyse inclusive growth. Instead, critics argue, the commission has so far failed to articulate a compelling vision or inspire public confidence.
There is little publicly accessible information about its strategic plans, project pipelines, procurement processes or performance benchmarks. In an era of heightened civic awareness and digital scrutiny, such opacity has proved costly, fuelling suspicion and eroding the goodwill that accompanied the commission’s launch.
Adding urgency to the controversy are unverified allegations that more than ₦5 billion released to the commission in December 2025 was misused without due process or adequate accountability. Civil society groups say this and other claims point to systemic governance failures and demand urgent investigation.
According to sources within the National Assembly, some members of the House of Representatives are reportedly pressing for the immediate removal of the Managing Director, pending a full probe into the commission’s finances and operations. While no official findings have yet been published, the persistence and consistency of the allegations have intensified public scrutiny.
This newspaper sought clarification from Mr Okoye, but calls to his office were not returned and no response was received before press time.
Against this backdrop, a coalition of civil society organisations has announced plans to stage a peaceful protest in Abuja next week. Flyers circulated over the weekend indicate that a press conference and rally will be held to draw the attention of President Tinubu to what organisers describe as “widespread incompetence and corruption” within the commission.
The protesters are expected to demand the removal of the current leadership and a comprehensive restructuring of the agency. Although the allegations remain unverified, organisers insist that the scale of public concern warrants immediate executive intervention.
Yet even amid the growing anger and disillusionment, many stakeholders remain unwilling to abandon the original idea behind the SEDC. They argue that the problem lies not in the concept of a regional development commission, but in its current execution.
For these voices, abolition would represent another lost opportunity for the South-East. What is required instead, they contend, is reform: the appointment of competent, development-oriented leadership; the adoption of transparent governance frameworks; the publication of clear strategic priorities; and the rapid rollout of visible, high-impact projects that address the region’s most urgent needs.
Some have pointed to the Niger Delta Development Commission as an imperfect but instructive example, an agency that, despite its own governance challenges, has delivered substantial infrastructure and social investments across its constituent states. The South-East, they argue, deserves no less.
The South-East Development Commission now stands at a critical juncture. It can either reclaim its founding purpose – to serve as a catalyst for reconstruction, inclusion and sustainable growth – or risk total rejection by the very communities whose decades-long advocacy secured its creation.
The jubilation that greeted its birth has not entirely dissipated, but it is rapidly giving way to impatience and scepticism. Whether that disappointment can yet be transformed back into hope will depend on what happens next, and how swiftly.
For many in the South-East, the stakes could scarcely be higher. The region’s development challenges are deep-rooted and urgent, and the failure of the SEDC would not only squander scarce public resources but also reinforce long-standing perceptions of exclusion and neglect.
As protests loom and political pressure mounts, all eyes are now on the Federal Government. The choices made in the coming weeks, whether to defend the status quo, initiate investigations or embark on sweeping reforms, will shape not only the future of the commission, but also the credibility of the broader promise of equitable national development.
