South-South Development Commission Bill Clears Second Reading in Senate Despite NDDC’s Existence

The Senate at plenary on 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.

Arguments canvassed by the sponsor of the bill, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (APC Cross River South) and Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP Bayelsa West) during 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 NDDC, being mistaken to be in the mode of zonal development commissions, was a resource-based commission that cut across the South-south geopolitical zone.

Dickson stated, “NDDC is a resource-based commission meant to mitigate environmental degradation caused by oil exploration across the oil producing states and fast track their development.

“The states covered by NDDC cut across South-south, South-east and South-west, unlike zonal based commissions, which the proposed South-South Commission falls under.”

Elated by total support given the proposed commission by all the senators who contributed, Senate President Godswill Akpabio thereafter referred the legislative proposal to the Senate Committee on Special Duties and required it to report back within one week.

The red chamber thereafter resolved to amend the North-West and South-East Development Commission Acts over positions of Managing Director and Chairman.

It passed for second reading the South-South Development Commission Bill.

In his separate lead debates on the amendment bills, the leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said the amendment on the North-West Development Commission Act, 2024 sought to provide for geopolitical representation in the Governing Board of the Commission.

Bamidele said the amendment bill also sought to reconcile the lacuna that existed in the provisions relating to the appointments of the chairman and managing director of the commission by ensuring that the two were 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 amendment of the South East Development Commission Act.

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.

Sunday Aborisade

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