Senate passes bill to create South West Development Commission

The Senate, on Thursday, September 26, 2024, passed a bill seeking to establish the South West Development Commission.

The passage of the bill at the plenary in Abuja on Thursday followed the adoption of the report of the Committee on Special Duties presented by the Chairman, Kaka Shehu (APC-Borno).

Shehu, in his presentation, said the bill was designed to drive the socio-economic development of the South West region of the country.

The senator said: “If the South West Development Commission is established through presidential assent to the bill, it will be like other development-driven commissions established on zonal basis.

“It will receive funds from the federation account, donations from development partners, among others, to address infrastructural deficits and tackle ecological problems in the region.”

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The Senate, after Shehu‘s presentation, resolved into Committee of the Whole for clause-by-clause consideration of the bill after which it was read for the third time.

Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin (APC-Kano), who presided over the plenary after the passage of the bill, commended the Shehu-led committee for processing the bill.

Barau said the South West Development Commission like others recently established would address the infrastructural and ecological challenges in the South West.

He added: “The essence of the various development commissions being set up is to fast track development of the entire country.

“President Bola Tinubu has assented to similar bills passed for zonal development–driven interventions and will surely assent to this one.”

The Star