Odita Sunday 
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has criticized the South-East Development Commission (SEDC), alleging a lack of tangible progress one year after the commission received an approved budget of ₦140 billion. In a statement released on Thursday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, the civil rights group challenged the SEDC leadership to provide a public account of how the funds for the 2025 financial year were utilized.
HURIWA stated that its independent research team failed to find any visible infrastructure projects, rehabilitation works, or development initiatives executed by the commission across the South-East region since it began operations. The group further claimed that efforts to gain clarity from the Chairman of the SEDC Governing Board, Chief Emeka Wogu, and the Senate Committee Chairman on the SEDC, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, were met with unsatisfactory responses. According to HURIWA, Chief Wogu indicated the commission was still “setting its roadmap,” while Senator Kalu stated he had no information on any recorded achievements.
The ₦140 billion allocation was part of the ₦54.9 trillion national budget passed in February 2025. While other regional commissions received similar funding, the SEDC was specifically mandated to handle post-civil war reconstruction, erosion control, and industrialization across Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states. The SEDC board, led by Dr. Emeka Wogu and Managing Director Mr. Mark Okoye, was inaugurated following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s signing of the establishment bill into law in July 2024.
Despite early pledges to close the region’s infrastructure gap and grow the South-East into a $200 billion economy by 2035, HURIWA argues there is no evidence of these goals being met. The group called on professionals and youths within the region to demand transparency, warning against the misappropriation of development funds. HURIWA emphasized that Nigerians deserve to know how public funds meant for the collective interest of the Igbo people are being managed, especially regarding the rebuilding of war-damaged infrastructure and addressing urgent ecological challenges.
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