By Nathaniel Zaccheaus Abuja
At plenary yesterday, the Senate passed for a 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 sponsors of the bill, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (APC Cross River South) and Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP Bayelsa West), canvassed arguments during debate on the bill that convinced their colleagues across party lines and geopolitical zones to embrace the idea.
Senator 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 cut 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,” he said
Elated by the total support given to the proposed commission by all the Senators who contributed, the President, Godswill Akpabio, referred the legislative proposal to the Senate Committee on Special Duties and reported back within one week.
*Amends North-West, South-East Development Commissions Acts
The Red Chamber then resolved to amend the North-West and South-East Development Commission Acts regarding the positions of Managing Director and Chairman.
Even as it passed for second reading, the South-South Development Commission bill.
In his separate lead debates on the amendment act bills, the leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said the amendment to the North-West Development Commission Act 2024 seeks to provide for geopolitical representation in the Commission’s Governing Board.
He said the amendment bill also seeks to reconcile the lacuna 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 Senate’s confirmation by 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, membership of the commission must 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 South East Development Commission Acts amendment.
In his remarks after passing the amendments bill for second reading, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said the proposed amendments to the Acts were necessary for the smooth running of the commissions across the zones.
