The Senate Committee on Regional Development has launched an investigation into the financial operations of the North West Development Commission (NWDC), raising concerns over what lawmakers described as disproportionate spending on board allowances.
During an oversight session, the committee questioned the commission’s expenditure of about ₦943 million—nearly 79 percent of the ₦1.19 billion it has spent so far—on board allowances.
Lawmakers also expressed concern that the NWDC remains the only regional development commission without executive directors and substantive staff, despite being inaugurated in February 2025.
In response, officials from the supervising ministry, the commission’s board and its Managing Director attributed the situation to operational and administrative challenges affecting the agency’s take-off.
The committee, however, maintained that urgent reforms are needed to enable the commission fulfil its mandate of driving development and addressing security challenges across the North-West region, warning that delays in building the commission’s operational structure could undermine its effectiveness.
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