From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has insisted that the South East Development Commission (SEDC) must operate from the South-East and extend its activities to the grassroots so that people across the region feel its presence.
Kalu, chairman of the Senate Committee on SEDC, spoke on Monday during an oversight visit to Enugu, where he expressed satisfaction with the commission’s office facilities and said the committee would return in December to assess further progress.
“The only problem that I said before, and I repeat, is that they cannot operate from Abuja. They must operate from where they are set up. This is where they are located,” he said.
The Abia North senator said the inspection had addressed the committee’s earlier concern about the commission operating from Abuja, with lawmakers inspecting its current office and another building provided by the Enugu State Government, which was being completed for its use.
“Where we were before and now, we are making progress. We were quarrelling about our office being in Abuja. Today, we have seen two offices, one where they are staying and the one they are completing, which the government of Enugu State gave them.
“So, we are very impressed. Once they are back home to do what they are sent to do, nobody has problems with them,” he said.
Kalu, a former governor of Abia State, urged the management to sustain the progress observed by the committee and take the commission’s work beyond its administrative base to communities across the five South-East states.
“We also want them to go to the grassroots to show the South Eastern people that they are on the ground,” he said.
Commending the improvements since the committee’s earlier engagement with the commission, he added: “Well, so far, we are making very good progress, unlike when we started. I’m sure you, both me and my colleagues, are seeing very serious progress. I hope that the commission, especially the management team, sustains this progress.”
He said the committee’s December visit would provide another opportunity to review the commission’s operations and progress on its headquarters.
While acknowledging that the SEDC was still a new institution, Kalu urged its management to remain focused on its mandate.
“It’s a new commission, less than one year. We are making progress. We are impressed with what we have seen so far. So far, so good,” he said.
“Our quarrel before was about being in Abuja and not being in Enugu. So that quarrel is over now.”