Despite NDDC, Senate Approves New Development Commission for South-south Zone
* Amends North-West, South-East Development Commissions Acts
The Senate at plenary Thursday, passed for second reading, a bill seeking the establishment of the South-South Development Commission (SSDC), a few months after kicking against it.
The federal lawmakers had rejected the bill when it was first presented because they claimed that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) had covered most of the functions of the proposed (SSDC).
The arguments canvassed by the sponsors of the bill, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (APC Cross River South) and Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP Bayelsa West), during the debate on the bill, convinced their colleagues across party lines and geopolitical zones to embrace the idea.
Dickson, in his contribution to the bill, said the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), being mistaken to be in the mode of zonal development commissions, is a resource based commission that cuts across the South-south geopolitical zone.
Dickson said: “NDDC is a resource-based commission meant to mitigate against environmental degradation caused by oil exploration across the oil producing states and fast-track their development.
“The states covered by NDDC cuts across South-south, South-east and South-west, unlike zonal-based commissions which the proposed South-South Commission, falls under.”
Elated by the total support given the proposed commission by all the senators who contributed, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, thereafter, referred to the legislative proposal to the Senate Committee on Special Duties and report back within one week.
The red chamber thereafter resolved to amend the North-West and South-East Development Commission Acts over the positions of managing director and chairman.
This is even as it passed for second reading, the South-South Development Commission bill.
In his separate lead debates on the amendment acts bills, the leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said the amendment on the North-West Development Commission Act, 2024, seeks to provide for geopolitical representation in the governing board of the commission.
He said the amendment bill also seeks to reconcile the lacuna that exists in the provisions, relating to the appointments of the chairman and the managing director of the commission by ensuring that the two are not appointed from the same state in the zone.
It also sought to subject the appointments to the confirmation of the Senate in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Bamidele said: “For effective representation, and in line with the principles of Federal Character, it is imperative that membership of the commission be extended to other geopolitical zones of the country which would be in tandem with extant Acts, relating to the establishment of Federal Commissions.”
The Senate Leader gave similar reasons in his lead debate for the amendment of the South East Development Commission Acts.
In his remarks after passing the amendments bill for second reading, Akpabio said the proposed amendments to the Acts, were very necessary for smooth running of the commissions across the zones.
