By Kenechukwu Ofomah
A Senior Special Assistant to Governor Chukwuma Soludo on New Media, Mazi Opara Ejimofor has criticized the member representing Anambra North Senatorial zone in the National Assembly, Senator Tony Nwoye, over what he described as minimalist advice to the board of the South East Development Commission, SEDC, on the kind of projects to pursue in the quest for the development of the region.
The SEDC, led by the Managing Director, Mr Mark Okoye had earlier this week appeared before the SEDC Senate Committee chaired by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, to present the 2026 Budget and Strategic Outlook of the Commission.
During the discussions, Senator Nwoye had expressed his disagreement with the bogus figures quoted by the Commission for conferences and investment promotions, describing them as unrealistic, and urging that the Commission focus more on infrastructure.
Nwoye also queried the huge sum proposed by the Commission for security operations and procurement of surveillance equipment, insisting that it will amount to duplication of efforts, considering the huge votes for security allocated to governors of the various Southeast states.
“I went through your presentation and wish to appeal to you and your team to dwell more on developing infrastructure in the region.
“It will not augur well for you to go and spend so much money on conferences, investment promotion, 20 billion dollars, 50 million dollars, all those things are not realistic.
“Let us talk about how someone in Bende, Umunnachi, Umudioka, Awgu can feel the impact of the SEDC, not the issue of 20million and 30 billion dollars. I am not interested.
“I will not support a situation whereby tomorrow, the Commission will say it spent huge amounts of money on security. I saw in your budget proposal, N3.5billion for regional security operations in 2026. I also saw N10.5 billion for the procurement of equipment, including drones, CCTV, and other control infrastructure.
“I am not saying that security is not important, but we know that governors are the chief security officers of their states, and they have security votes. The federal government also spends a lot of funds for security, and there is no reason for this huge amount of money by the SEDC to be spent on security again.
“We have schools across the region that need infrastructure, instead of putting money in these investment promotions that are unrealistic,” Nwoye argued.
But, in a reaction, the APGA National Publicity Secretary, Mazi Ejimofor urged the Board of the Commission to discountenance the suggestion of Senator Nwoye and other senators he described as minimalists.
Dr Ejimofor, who is also the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, said the advice of the Senator shows that he does not have a grasp of the functions and workings of Commissions as the SEDC, noting that the senator’s suggestion will reduce the Commission to a political pun.
“What is the business of a Regional Development Commission in making micro-level interventions that can become subject to political patronage and abuse?
“At best, Senator Nwoye, at the recent budget defense of the SEDC, has shown he lacks in-depth knowledge of how a development commission responsible for a region of five states should function. He thinks their role is same as those of Legislators who busy themselves with ‘tokenist’ constituency projects.
“I am more inclined to what Governor Chukwuma Soludo told the SEDC Managing Director and other participants at the SEDC Vision 2050 event in Enugu, that the SEDC should never be like NDDC that has become minimalist in its agenda.
“Apart from littering non-functional buildings and splashing pockets of projects to family and friends, tell me one grand project that benefits the entire South South Region that the NDDC has undertaken?
“The SEDC MD must not listen to Senator Nwoye if he wants to succeed. He has to think mega and macro. He has to look out for projects that promote regional integration.
“He is not there to build PHCs for Nsugbe or Ifitedunu or send streetlights to Ngor Okpala. He is not to usurp the job of the Local Government or replace the Senators in their districts,” he said.
Ejimofor suggested that the SEDC leadership envisions the possibility of rail lines that would connect southeast states and link the region to sister regions, as well as institutional reforms that cut across the states.
He said, “Again, no investment is too much in fixing the mental retardation the so-called Biafra struggle has caused our people! And yes, I support every investment channeled towards reorientation.
Again, I insist, Mark must not listen to Senator Tony Nwoye and others who are yet to understand his mandate.”
PIC DESCRIPT
SEDC Board members during the budget defence
