Renowned rights activist, Prof Chidi Odinkalu has accused Chairman of the Senate Committee on the South East Development Commission (SEDC), Chief Orji Uzor Kalu of attempting to rip of the Commission under the false pretense of legislative oversight.
Odinkalu was reacting to a letter from the Senate Committee requesting for an interactive meeting with the SEDC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Mark Okoye and other management staff of the Commission, on the 9th of June 2026.
According to the letter obtained by the News Chronicle, the Committee had also requested the Commission to submit the hard and soft copies of its audited reports and audited accounts to the Senate Committee.
But, in a post on his official X page, Odinkalu accused Kalu of harassing the Commission under the false pretense of oversight, just to raise funds for his election campaign expenses.
He expressed worry that the Committee was requesting for the hard and soft copies of the Commission’s accounts when it had not put in the work to ensure that the Commission is adequately funded.
According to him, what is going on with the Commission and the Committee is the kind of terrible things that are possible when a character as Kalu occupies serious positions of public trust and significance.
“That is where we are with the Committee on the SEDC in the Senate. That is why we must retire Kalu.
“It is election season and Kalu wants the Commission to fund his election rigging expenses. So, he is harassing the Commission under the false pretense of oversight.
“This letter from the Committee to the Commission is not even worth a teaspoonful of warm spittle.
“It is interesting that Kalu is asking for hard and soft copies of the entrails of the SEDC. But they are not interested in how much the Committee has received or when,” he said.
Odinkalu revealed that for the first nine months after it was inaugurated in February 2025, the SEDC received nothing in terms of the promised funds, adding that till date, the Commission has received zero Naira of Capital Expenditure.
According to him, in Dec 2025, the Commission eventually received a take-off grant of N5m, an information that is in the public domain.
He noted that as a long-serving public office holder, Kalu ought to understand how Ministry, Departments and Agencies, MDAs are audited, and as such, should know the position of the SEDC.
“Kalu has been long enough in public office to know the calendar of audits of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs. He knows that the SEDC has yet to be audited by the Auditor-General. But he is asking for audit reports and audited accounts.
“The Senate, of which Kalu is a principal officer, says Nigeria should operate three budgets. The SEDC has 2 unfunded budgets. Instead of helping to get the funds of the Commission released, Kalu wants to turn the Commission into an object of Parliamentary striptease.
“And the way this reads, he has arranged to put this into the media in order to set the Commission up for blackmail.
“The goal is clear: he wants a share of the take-off grant and of any recurrent funds that the Commission gets. And he cannot hide it.
“We don’t need such characters in public life. Retire Orji Uzor Kalu now,” he said.
