• Tasks bodies on economic potential, alternative funding

President Bola Tinubu has directed the timely release of funds due to the regional development commissions, and warned their boards and management against corruption, waste of public resources and projects with little or no direct benefit to the people.
   
Tinubu, who spoke yesterday in Abuja while declaring open the first North Central Stakeholders Development Summit, organised by the North Central Development Commission (NCDC), charged the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, to enforce the directive.
   
Represented by Akume, the president also warned the boards to refrain from white elephant projects, even as he assured the federal government’s continued political and financial support to the commissions to enable them to execute strategic projects that could unlock the respective regions’ economic and industrial potential.
   
However, he challenged the commissions to reduce their dependence on government funding by exploring alternative sources of finance, including public-private partnerships, donor support and development financing, where permitted by law and government policy.
   
Stressing that the commissions were not created to replace, duplicate or usurp the responsibilities of tiers of government, the president explained that they were deliberately established to accelerate his administration’s development agenda and bridge longstanding infrastructural and economic gaps across the country.
   
According to him, the commissions must concentrate on projects that address the specific development needs of their regions while also strengthening economic and infrastructural connectivity across the country.
   
Tinubu identified roads, rail and air transportation, industrialisation, security, investment, human capital development, education and healthcare as key areas requiring sustained attention.
   
To that end, he charged the commissions to formulate clear, concise, attainable and properly funded programmes, with projects selected for their economic and social impacts.
   
The president further directed the Ministry of Regional Development to ensure that the commissions operate within the Regional Development Policy Document framework, while urging the National Assembly to provide effective oversight.
   
He further warned the boards and management against corruption, marginalisation, politicisation and ethnicisation in the administration of the commissions.
   
Meanwhile, reflecting on the theme of the summit, “The Great Leap Forward: A 20-Year Economic, Infrastructural and Social Development Plan for the North Central Region,” the president said the region has enormous economic potential in agriculture, food production and agro-processing, solid minerals development and processing, industrialisation, peace and security.
   
Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said that Tinubu’s reforms were positioning the region for stronger economic growth.
   
Also, the NCDC Managing Director, Dr Cyril Tsenyil, assured that the commission would focus on agriculture, agro-processing, minerals, infrastructure, digital connectivity, small businesses and regional economic corridors.