The North Central Department Commission (NCDC), on Tuesday commenced official engagement following the donation of an office complex to the Commission by the Nasarawa State governor, Abdullahi Sule.
Governor Sule also announced the donation of residential housing for the commission’s officials.
LEADERSHIP reports that stakeholders from the North-Central had designated Nasarawa as the headquarters of the Commission.
Governor Sule, who is also the Chairman of the North-Central Governors’ Forum, officially handed over the complex which served as the office of the Secretary to the State Government located along Shendam Road in Lafia metropolis.
Speaking during the ceremony Governor Sule promised to rally the support of the region’s governors to ensure that the commission achieved the objectives by which it was set up.
He stressed that the challenges of the region were many and diverse, noting that a holistic development plan was required to address them.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for fast tracking the emergence of the commission which towards addressing the peculiar development challenges facing the region.
He also thanked his colleagues for working assiduously towards ensuring that the commission came on stream.
“Let me use this opportunity to thank my colleagues, the governors, for coming together to ensure that the take-off is smooth as possible. I want to apologise that none of the governors is here for the event today.
“But since we have a meeting on Thursday, I am trying to see that we set up the meeting in Abuja so that we can meet with them and members of the National Assembly. This is to ensure that this North Central Development Commission takes off very, very smoothly,” he stated.
In the same vain, the chairman of the Commission, Cosmas Akighir, appealed for the cooperation and collaboration of the region’s governors in achieving its mandate.
“There are quite a lot of challenges. So we want to collaborate with you and the other governors so that we can drive development in the region, lift the living standards of the people, and alleviate poverty.
“In doing that, we will be needing your support. We appreciate the fact that you have made available an office space for us. We will also appreciate if you can make an allocation of land for us to have a befitting headquarters permanently,” he said.
Akighir also pleaded with the governors for some vehicles for the Commission’s operational efficiency “because we are still grappling with a budget, an annual budget.”
