By Femi Anamelechi
Drama unfolded at the Senate on Tuesday as lawmakers grilled the Managing Director of the South-East Development Commission (SEDC), Mark Okoye, over the commission’s claim that it spent N153 million to rent a one-room liaison office in Abuja. The Senate Committee on SEDC, chaired by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, raised concerns over the expenditure while reviewing the commission’s financial report. Lawmakers also questioned N2.5 billion listed as implied expenditure and demanded accountability for funds spent from the N16.6 billion released to the agency. The committee disclosed that information from the Central Bank of Nigeria showed that N13 billion remained from the N16.6 billion received by the commission in December 2025, indicating that about N3.6 billion had already been spent. Expressing dissatisfaction with the report, Kalu said, “This committee is disappointed with the financial report given, which is completely unacceptable.” Other committee members, including Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe, Victor Umeh and Austin Akobundu, also faulted the report and demanded further explanations. Defending the commission’s spending, Okoye maintained that the funds had been judiciously utilised and that projects were being tied to available resources.“Our approach has been to ensure that available resources are directed towards priority projects. We want allocations to guide the procurement process so that contracts awarded can be backed by available funding.”He added, “What we want to avoid is a situation where contracts are awarded without the financial capacity to execute them.” According to him, a budget allocation does not automatically translate to cash availability, warning that awarding contracts beyond released funds could create “unfunded liabilities and a significant financial deficit.”Unimpressed by the explanations, the committee directed the SEDC to submit detailed records of contracts, payments and supporting documents on or before June 23.
