The Senate Committee on the South East Development Commission on Tuesday queried the SEDC after its management could not account for more than N4 billion spent from the agency’s 2025 budget. Managing Director Mark Okoye faced the panel alongside Sylvester Okonkwo as lawmakers pressed for details on how public money was used.
The hearing matters because the commission received N16.6 billion for 2025, and the committee wanted to know how much of that sum was still in the account. Orji Kalu put the question directly to Okoye, asking how much remained and where the money had gone.
Okoye said the commission had between N11.5 billion and N12 billion left, based on the latest information available to him. Kalu rejected that explanation and said the figure did not match the committee’s records or information it had obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria. He told Okoye the panel had access to spending records and had already sent the Auditor General to examine the commission’s work.
The exchange exposed a sharper problem than a routine budget review. Kalu also alleged that records before the committee showed the commission paying N153 million a year for a small office in Abuja while keeping its headquarters in Enugu, a claim that added to questions about how the agency was managing its overheads. That dispute now sits alongside the larger one over more than N4 billion that lawmakers say remains unexplained.
Kalu ordered Okoye to return next Tuesday with comprehensive documentation showing how the funds were utilised. The committee has made clear it is not satisfied with the explanation so far, and the next hearing is likely to determine whether the missing money is a bookkeeping gap, a reporting failure or something more serious.
