The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has launched a scathing attack on the leadership of the South East Development Commission (SEDC), describing the management of the commission as a “big disgrace” to the Igbo people and calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately dissolve its leadership.
In a statement issued by its leader, Comrade Uchenna Madu, MASSOB accused the commission’s management, led by Managing Director Mark Okoye, of failing to deliver on the core mandate for which the agency was established.
According to the group, the South East Development Commission was created under the South East Development Commission Establishment Act, 2024, to address the reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation needs of the South-East region following the devastation of the Nigerian Civil War.
MASSOB, however, alleged that the commission had failed to focus on critical infrastructure and development projects across the region.
“The Leadership of South East Development Commission (SEDC) is a big disgrace and ignominy to Ndigbo,” the group declared.
The organisation specifically named the Managing Director, Mark Okoye; the Board Chairman, Dr. Emeka Nworgu; Executive Director of Projects, Hon. Toby Okechukwu; and Executive Director of Finance, Hon. Stanley Ohajuruka, among officials it accused of mismanaging the commission.
MASSOB argued that the commission had the potential to become a major catalyst for economic transformation and infrastructural development in the South-East if managed transparently and responsibly.
“The progress of SEDC is about our region. It is about a developmental platform which, if Ndigbo managed it well with absolute transparency and financial discipline, it can become a rallying point on which Igbos both home and abroad can leverage on to turn Igbo land to our desired megacity urbanisation and massive infrastructural developments through crowdfunding to the point that the commission may no longer depend on federal allocation for its operations,” the statement said.
The group further cited concerns raised during a recent Senate committee session involving the commission, claiming that lawmakers questioned some of its spending priorities.
“During a Senate committee appearance of the South East Development Commission, we all watched Senator Tony Okechukwu Nwoye publicly lamenting that instead of focusing on real infrastructural projects, the Commission chose to waste scarce resources on conferences and seminars, budgeting humongous amount on things that ought not be their primary focus, such as CCTV and drones for which they budgeted a whopping N10.5 billion in addition to another N3.5 billion they claim is for regional security operation,” MASSOB stated.
The group also alleged that budget documents showed that the commission had spent N2.4 billion on office expenses and N1.6 billion on vehicles despite what it described as limited visible infrastructure projects in the region.
“This is a commission that has no physical office in any part of Igbo land for which it was established. The commission has not been able to renovate and make the Enugu office provided free of charge by the state government operational more than a year and four months after the board was inaugurated,” the statement added.
MASSOB further alleged that the commission’s leadership failed to adequately account for its finances during legislative scrutiny.
“The SEDC MD could not explain or tell the credit balance of the same commission he is heading when Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and Senator Orji Uzor Kalu asked him about the balance sheet,” it claimed.
The group consequently called on the Federal Government to remove the current leadership of the commission and replace them with individuals it believes possess a deeper understanding of the region’s post-war realities.
“MASSOB demand from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government for an immediate sack of all appointees of South East Development Commission and replace them with Igbo men who experienced the Nigeria-Biafra war time.
“Since this commission is for the purpose of implementation of the rehabilitation, reconstruction and reconciliation of Biafra land and its people, MASSOB demand that the leadership of the commission should be given to Igbo men of integrity and zeal who participated and experienced the war time and its devastating blows on Ndigbo,” the group stated.
MASSOB also commended lawmakers it said had raised concerns over the commission’s activities.
“MASSOB also hails and salute Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe, Orji Uzor Kalu, Tony Okechukwu Nwoye and Victor Umeh for their astute and pragmatic stand in exposing the blatant criminalities and embezzlement of huge funds meant for the development of Igbo land,” the statement added.
The allegations by MASSOB have not been independently verified, and the South East Development Commission had not responded to the claims at the time of filing this report.
