Forum Seeks Amendment Of NCDC Act

The North Central People’s Forum (NCPF) has called on the National Assembly to fast-track the amendment to the North Central Development Commission (NCDC) Act and increase the number of its executive directors to seven for more  inclusion.

The group in a statement by its secretary general, Khaleel Bolaji, said the concentration of leadership and institutional powers were in one bloc of the region.

The group while thanking President Tinubu for assenting to the creation of the NCDC however, expressed concerned that the composition of the NCDC’s Board and Executive Management does not reflect the principles of inclusion, balance, and fairness across all states in the zone.

The forum said the North Central region comprises two broad discernible blocs:  The Upper North Central: Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa states (historically the old Benue-Plateau State) and the Lower North Central: Niger, Kogi, Kwara states and the FCT.

The statement said, “It is politically imperative that leadership and strategic positions within the commission be equitably distributed between these blocs. At present, both the chairman and managing director as well as the commission’s headquarters are concentrated in the Upper North Central bloc.

“This concentration of leadership and institutional power in one axis obviously undermines the delicate ethno-political balance that has sustained harmony in the North Central region.

“Even more troubling is the apparent exclusion of the FCT, as the individual purportedly representing the FCT is reportedly from Benue State.

“In light of the above, we respectfully urge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene and ensure a more equitable representation in the leadership structure of the NCDC.”

The group further recommended that since the Act establishing the commission mandates the chairmanship to rotate alphabetically beginning with Benue State, the managing director position should be allocated to a state within the Lower North Central bloc (i.e., Niger, Kogi, Kwara, or the FCT).