The South East Development Commission (SEDC) has said its Abuja office, established for N153 million, serves as an operational base for engagement with the National Assembly, federal ministries and agencies, development finance institutions, and other strategic partners.
The commission explained that the expenditure covers the establishment and running of the office since its inauguration in February 2025, as well as other operational expenses required for its day-to-day activities.
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SEDC provided the clarification in a statement issued on Tuesday by its Managing Director, Mark Okoye, after criticism from the Senate Committee on South East Development Commission for his inability to account for more than N4 billion spent from the commission’s 2025 budget.
During the committee’s meeting, where Mr Okoye appeared to defend the commission’s expenditure, the lawmakers, led by the committee chairman, Orji Kalu, questioned its contributions to the development of the South-east and demanded details of how its budget had been utilised.
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The commission was initially allocated N16.6 billion in the 2025 budget for its operations.
Mr Kalu, who represents Abia North Senatorial District, also challenged the managing director over records available to the committee, indicating that the commission spends N153 million annually on a small office in Abuja despite maintaining its headquarters in Enugu State
Mr Okoye was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation during the hearing, prompting the committee to direct him to return next Tuesday with comprehensive documentation detailing how the funds had been utilised.
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Since its appearance, the commission has come under intense public scrutiny, with critics accusing it of financial mismanagement and a lack of transparency.
The liaison office
Although the commission did not specifically state the amount spent on the office in its statement, Mr Okoye did not dispute the N153 million figure during the committee’s meeting.
SEDC said the Abuja facility serves as a liaison office and disclosed plans to relocate fully to its statutory headquarters in Enugu State.
“The board and management have prioritised relocating to the Commission’s designated headquarters in Enugu at the earliest possible opportunity,” it said.
The commission also noted that it had yet to receive any capital allocation from its budget but had continued to advance project development initiatives across the region.
The commission stated that its expenditure has focused on two key objectives: building the institutional foundation necessary for full programme delivery and advancing project development work that would ordinarily be funded through the capital budget.
“It is important to note that the Commission has not received any funds from its capital budget. Notwithstanding this, and in response to the development expectations of the South East, the Commission has drawn on every available resource and goodwill to advance the development of high-impact regional capital projects, ensuring that the necessary groundwork is in place to enable swift execution once capital releases are made.
“Expenditure to date has therefore been directed towards two mutually reinforcing objectives: building the institutional foundation on which the Commission’s full programme delivery rests, and advancing project development work that would ordinarily fall within the capital budget,” it said.
SEDC further stated that it received its first disbursement more than ten months after its establishment and that a significant portion of the funds had been used to settle salaries and operational costs.
“It is worth recalling that the Commission received its first disbursement of funds after more than ten months of being in existence.
“On the institutional side, expenditure has covered the payment of staff salaries and arrears for personnel who were operational from February 2025 and who continued to serve the Commission through that extended period of delayed fund releases, capacity training for seconded staff, the establishment of the Commission’s operational bases in Abuja and Enugu, and the procurement of essential ICT infrastructure to bring the Commission to a basic standard of operational readiness,” the statement said.
Programmes, projects
Highlighting its activities so far, the commission referenced participation in the Intra-African Trade Fair in Algeria, ongoing discussions with Afreximbank on a Project Preparation Fund aimed at reviving moribund industries in the South-east, the South East Vision 2050 Stakeholder Forum, and the launch of the South East Venture Capital Programme.
According to the commission, the venture capital initiative has already provided funding support to 25 startups across the region.
The statement added that the commission had engaged consultants to conduct feasibility studies and due diligence on priority regional projects, including a proposed gas infrastructure partnership expected to have significant energy and industrial benefits for the South-east.
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