A bill seeking to establish the South East Development Commission (SEDC) enjoyed the Senate’s resolve on Wednesday, to forward it to the House of Representatives concurrence.
The Upper Chamber also passed for second reading a bill seeking to establish similar commissions in the South West, and North Central regions, to be named the South West Development Commission (SEDC) and North Central Development Commission (NCDC).
While underscoring the importance of the zonal development commissions, the Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, asked the Senate to amend the Constitution to give legal backing to the Six Geo-Political zones.
Calls for a South-east Development Commission have lingered long in the National Assembly but have failed at every attempt since the 8th Assembly. This time it returned to the Senate in the form of a concurrence bill from the House of Representatives.
Supporting the bill on the establishment of South East development commission, Senator Victor Umeh, (Labour Party, Anambra Central) explained that the establishment of the Commission would aid infrastructure development in the region since the end of the Civil War in Nigeria.
However, this time it returned to the Senate in the form of a concurrence bill from the House of Representatives.
Supporting the bill, Senator Victor Umeh, Labour Party, Anambra Central, explained that the Commission would aid infrastructure development since the end of the Civil War in Nigeria.
Leading the support for the South West Development Commission, Senator Gbenga Daniel said that the Commission when established would help tackle ecological problems in the region.
Senate Minority leader, Abba Moro, justified the need for the North Central Development Commission on grounds that the region had suffered great setbacks from the spate of insecurity in the country.
Recall that barely a week after the Senate entertained and passed for second reading a bill seeking to establish the North-west Development Commission, the apex legislative Chamber was on Wednesday inundated with three similar bills seeking special development Commissions for the South-east, South-west and the North Central regions of the country, quickly came up with their own zonal Commissions.
The Federal Government had earlier established the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC) and the Northeast Development Commission.
Southeast Development Commission Bill Passes Second Reading At Senate
