Senate has confirmed President Bola Tinubu’s nominations for appointments as members of the Board of the North-East Development Commission (NEDC). The confirmation is sequel to the screening of the nominees at plenary on Wednesday.
Those confirmed are: Gen. Paul Tarfa, Chairman for re-appointment (North-east Adamawa); Gambo Maikomo member (North-east Taraba), Abdullahi Abbas member (North-west Kano ).
Others are Tsav Aondoana member (North-central Benue) Chief Mutiu Lawal-Areh Member (South-west Lagos), Samuel Onuigbo Member (South-east Abia), Frank Owhor, member (South-south Rivers) and Mohammad Alkali (Managing Director North-east Borno) re-appointment. Also confirmed are Ahmed Yahaya Executive Director operations, (North-east Gombe);
Dr Abubakar Iliya, Executive Director Admin and Finance, (North-east Yobe) and Musa Yashi, Executive Director Humanitarian Affairs ( North-east Bauchi). Before their confirmation, Tarfa, the Chairman-designate of NEDC, who was reappointed, pledged continued commitment of the board to discharge its mandate in line with the Act establishing the commission.
Mohammad Alkali, Managing Director of NEDC, said the board had initiated and has ongoing projects across the education, health, and agriculture among other sectors across the North-east states. He commended the Federal Government for its support and commitment, saying that funding was a challenge in execution of projects. Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP-Bauchi) said the North-east Senate caucus would partner with the NEDC board to ensure the execution of projects. He, however, urged the board to ensure judicious use of the funds appropriated for projects implementation, saying that the North-east zone was the least developed.
Senator Ahmed Lawan (APC-Yobe) commended Tinubu for the nominations and said the commission was established to take care of the people of North-east. He, however, said that there was an overbalance by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management on the activities of the NEDC. Lawan urged the board to partner state governments in the region on projects initiation and execution.
He appealed to the committee over the siting of the commission, when constituted and to be mindful of its oversight, especially on issues relating to overbearing influence of the ministry. President of the Senate Godswill Akpabio urged the board to also engage state governments and other stakeholders to avoid duplication of projects. He urged the board to liaise with the Senate to work assiduously to alleviate the pains and sufferings of the people of the region.
