North-West Development Commission: Senate Calls for Halt of  Power Tussle as Commission Chairman Briefs 

By Onwe Wisdom| Pan Afric Reporters

The Nigeria Senate has called for calm and harmony within the leadership of the commission in order to accelerate the commission’s efforts towards achieving it’s mandate as enshrined in the Act establishing it. This was laid bare on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, during a tense interactive session between the joint committees of the National Assembly and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Professor Shehu Abdullahi Ma’aji.

At the joint committee meeting convened by the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on the NWDC chaired by Senator Babangida Hussaini, with Hon. Dr. Sulaiman Abubakar Gumi as co-chairman; Prof. Ma’aji openly raised concerns that the Chairman of the Board, Alhaji Lawal Sama’ila Abdullahi, is undermining the authority of the management and stalling the Commission’s progress.

According to the MD, the board chairman has consistently acted as an executive chairman, contrary to the provisions of the Act establishing the Commission, which clearly defines the role as part-time.

“My biggest problem is that the chairman of the board sees himself as the executive chairman of the commission,” Prof. Ma’aji told lawmakers. “For the last four board meetings, he does not recognize me as the MD/CEO but treats me as a board member. He goes about with one of the board members occupying my space, and this has stalled the development of the agency.”

He appealed to the National Assembly to urgently intervene, warning that without clarity and respect for statutory roles, the Commission’s takeoff would remain elusive.

In a swift response, Senator Hussaini clarified that the enabling Act leaves no ambiguity on the matter, stressing that the board chairman is not an executive officer. He urged Alhaji Sama’ila Abdullahi to align his conduct with the law and allow management to function.

Beyond the leadership dispute, lawmakers delivered one of their sternest oversight warnings yet, expressing frustration that Nigeria’s newest regional intervention agency has failed to translate lofty expectations into tangible results.

While commending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for establishing six new regional development commissions, members of the joint committee noted with concern that the NWDC is lagging significantly behind its counterparts, particularly those in the South-West, which have moved faster from legislation to implementation.

“We did not create this commission for press statements and social media visibility,” lawmakers cautioned. “We created it to solve problems.”

The committee reminded the Commission’s leadership that the North-West zone, home to nearly a quarter of Nigeria’s population—over 52 million people—faces some of the country’s gravest challenges, including mass poverty, insecurity, banditry, kidnapping, drug abuse, climate stress, arms proliferation, and high numbers of out-of-school children.

“These challenges are not abstract; they are daily realities,” the lawmakers stressed. “That is why this commission matters more here than anywhere else.”

Senators expressed disappointment that nearly a year after takeoff, the Commission remains bogged down by unresolved governance tensions, delayed executive appointments, and weak engagement with key stakeholders.

Senator Hussaini disclosed that the committee had previously intervened to resolve frictions between the board and management, warning that the latest meeting marked the final attempt at mediation.

“This is the last time we will sit to resolve internal disputes,” he said pointedly. “You have been voted for, cleared, and funded. We expect you to move forward.”

Lawmakers also faulted the Commission for limited engagement with state governors, the private sector, development partners, and donor institutions beyond initial courtesy visits.

“The Assembly has given you latitude to innovate and raise funds,” the committee said. “Latitude without delivery is wasted space.”

A strong message also came from the Senate urging the NWDC to reduce its dependence on federal allocations. Members called for a major regional summit involving the private sector, technical institutions, and development partners to design sustainable funding and investment strategies.

“The era of waiting for government releases alone is over,” one lawmaker warned. “If funding stalls tomorrow, what is your Plan B?”

In his response, Prof. Ma’aji presented a progress report covering January to December 2025, describing the Commission as still being in a foundational phase following its establishment by law in 2024.

He outlined the Commission’s vast mandate, covering seven states, 186 local government areas, over 2,000 wards, and a population estimated at about 54 million people.

According to him, the NWDC has so far focused on institutional groundwork, including courtesy visits to governors, participation in national development forums, creation of an organizational structure and corporate identity, and engagements with international partners such as the World Bank, AfDB, IsDB, UNDP, JICA, GIZ, and the UK’s FCDO.

He also unveiled conceptual proposals for a North-West Investment Company, Power Company, Transport Company, Commodity Exchange, Water Projects, and Centres of Excellence.

On funding, the MD disclosed that the Commission received an appropriation of about ₦145.6 billion, with 75 percent allocated to capital projects, 20 percent to overheads, and five percent to personnel. Sectoral allocations prioritize security, agriculture, education, infrastructure, health, youth and women empowerment, ecology, and mining.

Security, he added, will dominate the 2026 budget in line with presidential directives, focusing on support for law enforcement, community security initiatives, rehabilitation of displaced persons, and grassroots intelligence systems.

Agriculture plans target large, medium, and cooperative-based small-scale farmers to boost food security, while staff recruitment has been delayed pending waivers, with approval expected soon.

Prof. Ma’aji also announced a UK Aid-funded North-West Stakeholders’ Summit scheduled to begin in January in Kaduna, aimed at producing a regional master plan, while a temporary headquarters has been secured in Kano.

Despite acknowledging these efforts, senators made it clear that the Commission’s grace period has expired.

“We have heard your plans,” the Vice-Chairman said. “Now we want to see execution. One year of preparation should produce results.”

The message from the National Assembly was unmistakable: the North-West Development Commission must move swiftly from frameworks to factories, from meetings to measurable impact—or face intensified legislative scrutiny in the months ahead.