Senate confirms Okoye, Ma’aji, 32 others for SEDC, NWDC boards

The confirmation, which included 34 nominees, took place during resumption of plenary presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

Mark Okoye was confirmed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the SEDC, while Professor Abdullahi Shehu Ma’aji was confirmed for the same role in the NWDC.

The confirmations followed the submission of a report by the Ad-Hoc Committee on Regional Development Commissions, led by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia-North). The report indicated that the nominees had demonstrated their capacities to lead the respective commissions during the screening process.

A brief moment of contention arose when some legislators attempted to invoke Order 1(b) to delay the confirmation for further consultations.

However, the motion was unsuccessful as the Senate resolved to proceed, voting to dissolve into the Committee of the Whole to consider the report, ultimately approving all the nominees.

The confirmed nominees for the NWDC include 14 board members, led by Alhaji Lawal Samai’la Abdullahi as Chairman and Professor Abdullahi Shehu Ma’aji as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Other confirmed members are Dr. Yahaya Umar Namahe, Hon. Aminu Suleiman, Ja’afar Abubakar Sadeeq, Yahaya Aminu Abdullahi, Hon. Engr Muhammad Ali Wudil, Shamsu Sule, Nasidi Ali, Chukwu Chijtoke, Ahmed Mohammed, Engr. Ahmed Rufai Timasantyu, Macdonalds Michael Uyi, and Hon. Babatunde Dada.

For the SEDC, the 18-member board is led by Dr. Emeka Nworgu as Chairman, with Mark Okoye as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Other members include Barr. Ugochukwu Agballah, Okey Izenwa, Hyacinth Ikpor, Chidi Echeazu, Ifeanyi Agwu, Nasiru Usman, Hamma Adama, Ali Kumo, Edward Onoja, Kufre Inima, Daniel Akwari, Joke Adebayo-Chukwuma, Stanley Ohajuruka (E.D. Finance), Sylvester Okonkwo (E.D. Corporate Services), Toby Okechukwu (E.D. Projects), Anthony Agbo (E.D. Commercial and Industrial Development), and Dr. Clifford Ogbede (E.D. Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development).

This confirmation process followed a revised list of nominees submitted by President Bola Tinubu four weeks ago.

The nominees underwent a screening process by the Senate’s ad-hoc Committee.