Reports indicate that the maiden North-West Stakeholders Development Summit, (NWDC), held on January 31, 2026, at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Conference Centre in Kaduna, was overshadowed by the absence of all seven state governors from the region.
According to reports, none of the governors from Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, or Zamfara attended the summit in person.
While the governors themselves did not attend, they were reportedly represented by their Deputies, Secretaries to the State Government (SSG), or Commissioners.
It was gathered that the Protem-Chairman of the Northern Reconciliation Group, publicly criticised the governors’ absence as “disappointing” and “regrettable”, questioning their commitment to addressing the region’s challenges despite frequent public complaints about being “left behind”.
Some critics and social media observers labeled the event a “flop”, with allegations that the commission is being viewed as a “cconduit-pipe” for looting funds by top National Assembly leadership from the zone.
Despite the governors’ personal absence, the event featured the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the NWDC, Senator Babangida Hussaini.
The summit aimed to create a “coordinated regional development agenda” to tackle insecurity, poverty, and industrial collapse in the North-West region.
