Human Rights Writers of Nigeria (HURIWA) has challenged the leadership of the South East Development Commission (SEDC) to provide transparent information about the achievements made in its first year with the approved budget of N140 billion.

The group emphasised that its team of researchers has been unable to find concrete evidence of any infrastructure set up in the South-East of Nigeria for the benefit of the Igbo people by the commission.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, recalled that efforts to obtain detailed information on the commission’s achievements from both the Senate Committee Chairman on SEDC, Orji Uzor Kalu, and the Chairman of the Governing Board, Emeka Wogu, have failed to produce satisfactory responses.  
 
HURIWA disclosed that the Senate Committee Chairman of the SEDC stated that he had no information about any achievements made by the commission since its establishment.
The group noted that the National Assembly had approved a budget estimate of N140 billion for SEDC for the 2025 financial year.
 
This was included in the final draft of the 2025 budget of N54.9 trillion passed by the National Assembly on February 14.
 
The establishment of SEDC has sparked optimism and scepticism across Nigeria as the country’s latest effort to address the historical neglect and marginalisation of the South-East region.
   
According to economists, the success of the SEDC depends on its ability to navigate bureaucratic inefficiencies, political interference, and funding uncertainties.
 
The SEDC board, headed by Wogu and Mr Mark Okoye as Chairman and Managing Director, respectively, was inaugurated on February 11 last year.
 
The budget also allocated the same amount of N140 billion to other regional development commissions, such as the South-West Development Commission, South-South Development Commission, and North-Central Development Commission, while the North-West Development Commission received N145.61 billion.
 
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) received the largest budget among the development commissions with N626.53 billion.

The SEDC is responsible for rebuilding and rehabilitating the South-East region from the damage of the civil war.
 
Okoye, in his inaugural speech, quoted the World Bank, stating that the South-East required a yearly investment of $10 billion for the next 30 years to bridge the infrastructure gap.