Senate Questions North West Commission Over N943m Board Allowances

The Senate Committee on Regional Development has questioned the North West Development Commission over about N943m spent on board allowances and the delay in appointing executive directors.

Lawmakers raised the issues on Tuesday during an investigative session with officials of the commission and the Federal Ministry of Regional Development.

The committee asked why the NWDC still has no executive directors, even though it was one of the first regional development commissions created by an Act of the National Assembly.

Committee chairman Babangida Hussaini said the gap in the commission’s management structure was slowing its work in a region dealing with insecurity and infrastructure problems.

The Minister of State for Regional Development, Uba Maigari Ahmadu, told the lawmakers that the ministry had intervened in a dispute over the commission’s office accommodation in Kano. He said the commission first operated from offices donated by private organisations before disagreements over its permanent headquarters created tension between the board and management.

Ahmadu said the Kano State Government has now provided a furnished office complex, vehicles and land for the commission, and that all temporary offices have been closed.

Senators also questioned several spending items, including duty tour allowance claimed by the managing director for a visit to the Kano State governor, despite the commission’s headquarters being in Kano.

Daily Trust reported that the committee expressed concern that the absence of executive directors had weakened the commission’s operations since the board was inaugurated in February 2025.

The NWDC was created to coordinate development efforts across the North-West. Lawmakers said the commission must resolve its management and spending questions before it can deliver on that mandate.

Source: Punch, Daily Trust