SOUTH EAST elders have expressed dismay at the attempt to distract the board of South East Development Commission (SEDC), saying that great effort should be made to resists the temptation of allowing political considerations to be cloud the South East elders urge support for SEDC, decry political interference vision of the commission.

Recall that recently the Senate Committee on SEDC headed by Senator Orji Uzor Kanu, at an interface with the officials of the commission led by the Managing Director, Mark II Okoye, accused the commission of frivolous spending, including renting a corner Liaison office in Abuja, at an outrageous amount.

But, following discovery that the allegation of paying N153million for a one-room office, stakeholders, including the Convener of Igbo Dialogue Conference, Dr Chekwas Okorie and US-trained development expert, Architect Tony Oji, urged South East politicians to reciprocate President Bola Tinubu’s gesture of establishing the commission through non-partisan support.

In separate interactions with TheGuardian, the leaders advised the officials of the SEDC to always share their vision and ideas with the lawmakers, noting that as an interventionist agency the commission should be preoccupied with developmental initiatives and resist parochial affiliation.

Okorie, regretted that the lawmakers did not bother to visit the SEDC Liaison Office in Abuja before making declarative pronouncements about the cost to value implications, even as he pleaded with the SEDC officials to deploy Information, enlightenment and communication mechanism to keep stakeholders abreast of its mission.

On the allegations of lopsided expenditure on hiring of consultants by the commission, the frontline Igbo leader noted that it is implausible that any modern organization should embark on any project without adequate studies, stressing experts must be involved for standardization, timelines and best practices.

However, Mr Oji, a US-returnee, said that the SEDC Board appears to be meticulous in its planning, remarking that the commission’s vision for a rail project that connects the five South East states, as well as investment in start-ups for young entrepreneurs are laudable projects with long gestation period.

“From experience, I can understand the seeming misunderstanding between the Board and politicians. In the US when we embarked upon the design for enhanced public works for Fort Worth in Texas, we had to undertake extensive enlightenment on our methodologies.

“Politicians are interested in elections and they expect some credit notes to confront the electorate. The SEDC officials should learn to walk a middle course by constantly engaging the lawmakers with their deliverables and timelines.

“I have seen some attempts to compare the South East Development Commission with its counterparts, especially in the South West, but there is no basis for such comparison. The needs assessment of South East which survived the ravages of a civil war cannot be on the same plane with other parts of the country,” he stated.

Further, Oji noted that environment challenges in the South East and the peculiarities of the various states comprising the geopolitical zone, saying that politicians and other leaders should show some understanding for the difficult circumstances that officials of the SEDC are forced to work.

He stated: “The SEDC is a belated interventionist agency. I think President Tinubu did what the military administrations failed to do in the immediate aftermath of the civil war. Rather than blow hot air about organizational style or strategies, our politicians should employ caution.”