By Eshioromeh Sebastian
President Bola Tinubu has directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, to ensure funds due to the North Central Development Commission (NCDC) and other regional development commissions are released without delay.
Tinubu gave the directive on Monday in Abuja at the first North Central Stakeholders’ Development Summit, where Akume represented him. He said prompt funding was essential for the commissions to execute projects capable of unlocking their regions’ economic and industrial potential.
But he paired the directive with a blunt warning against mismanagement. “There is no excuse for the commissions to become another conduit pipe for wasting public funds,” he said, urging them not to rely solely on government allocations but to mobilise private capital through public-private partnerships, donor funding and development financing.
The summit, themed “A Great Leap Forward: A 20-Year Economic, Infrastructural and Social Development Plan for North Central Region,” brought together governors and representatives of the six North-central states and the FCT, traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth and women’s groups, academics, development partners and private-sector operators.
Tinubu said the commissions were created under his Renewed Hope Agenda to accelerate development and close longstanding national gaps, but insisted they were not meant to replace or duplicate existing tiers of government. He charged them to focus on roads, rail, air transport, industrialisation, security, investment, human capital, education and healthcare.
He also warned their boards and managements against corruption, marginalisation, politicisation and ethnic considerations, saying offenders would be sanctioned. “Development must be about the people and not on paper,” he said.
NCDC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Cyril Tsenyil, said the commission intends to move the North-central from “a collection of states with enormous but fragmented potential into a coordinated regional economy with integrated infrastructure, investable projects and shared prosperity.”
Presenting the draft 20-year plan, he said the summit was designed to be a turning point rather than another conference where stakeholders exchanged speeches and returned to “business as usual.” The plan, he explained, rests on the understanding that major infrastructure and economic transformation cannot be achieved within a single electoral cycle.
He noted the region’s strategic position — connecting northern and southern markets, hosting the nation’s capital, and holding vast agricultural land, water and mineral resources, a young population and a growing base of universities and enterprises. The challenge, he said, is converting those resources into “productive assets, competitive businesses, quality jobs and measurable improvements in the lives of residents.”
The NCDC, established under the North Central Development Commission (Establishment) Act, 2024, covers Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau and the FCT. Its mandate spans transportation, agriculture, security, entrepreneurship, industrialisation, employment, health, education, housing, water, electricity and telecommunications.
Tsenyil said the commission would not replace state governments or duplicate federal institutions, but operate as a regional coordination, development and investment-enabling platform. He argued the region must shift from state-by-state competition to regional collaboration, noting that investors view the area through “markets, supply chains, resources, labour pools and economic corridors rather than political boundaries.”
He advocated transforming agricultural production into agro-industrial value chains, processing minerals within the region, and integrating roads, railways, waterways and dry ports into regional economic corridors.
The commission disclosed that discussions had commenced with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) on a proposed regional railway network, the revival of Ajaokuta Steel, dredging of the Rivers Benue and Niger, Baro Port and the Jos Dry Inland Port. It said such projects should no longer be seen as isolated state projects but as interconnected infrastructure capable of reducing the cost of doing business and opening new economic corridors.
Talks are also underway with the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development on a possible Special Purpose Vehicle for the minerals sector, with emphasis on value addition, responsible mining and formalisation of artisanal mining.
Tsenyil said investment opportunities from the six states and the FCT would be subjected to structured “Deal Rooms,” with projects classified as Tier One (ready for investment), Tier Two (requiring further structuring) or Tier Three (conceptual stage). He noted investors require credible data, feasibility studies, land information, revenue models, risk-allocation frameworks and confidence that projects would survive changes in administration.
Funding sources, he said, include federal and state resources, development finance, commercial capital, foreign and domestic private investment, PPPs, concessions, grants and blended financing. The commission’s philosophy, he added, is to use public funds to unlock much larger pools of private capital — a strategy underpinning its board-approved investment company.
Minister of State for Regional Development, Hon. Uba Maigari Ahmadu, said the Federal Government was at an advanced stage of harmonising a National Regional Development Policy for 2026–2030, developed with the National Economic Council, the six regional development commissions, a drafting team and development partners.
“This policy will, for the first time, provide a single, coherent national architecture within which the North Central Development Commission and its sister commissions can plan, prioritize and mobilize resources,” he said, adding it would be submitted to the Federal Executive Council.
He recalled the North Central Zonal Validation Workshop in Lafia, Nasarawa State, where stakeholders shaped priorities now informing the draft, and urged Abuja summit participants to further scrutinise areas covering infrastructure, agriculture, human capital, security and investment.
Ahmadu called for greater private-sector and development-partner participation, saying government alone could not finance the required transformation, and pointed to blended finance, public-private infrastructure arrangements, agribusiness investment and technical collaboration as openings. He urged governors to maintain close collaboration with the NCDC, stressing that success would be measured “in communities across Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau and the FCT, rather than in Abuja.”
He assured stakeholders the ministry would track the summit’s resolutions and ensure they fed into the national policy and its implementation plan — echoing Tinubu’s warning that the summit must not become another forum where ideas are generated and reports produced without implementation.
The president also acknowledged the security challenges confronting the North-central, saying the Federal Government had intensified surveillance and intelligence gathering, established additional security formations, deployed more personnel, increased prosecution of criminals and supported dialogue and reconciliation. He tasked the NCDC with supporting stabilisation efforts, stressing that sustainable development requires peace and security.
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