- The Senate passed the South West Development Commission Establishment Bill 2024, aimed at promoting socio-economic development and addressing infrastructure deficits
- If signed into law, the Commission will receive funding from the federation account and donations to tackle ecological challenges in the region
On Thursday, the Senate passed the South West Development Commission Establishment Bill 2024 for its third reading.
This came after a report was presented by Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Special Duties.
In his presentation, Senator Kaka explained that the purpose of the bill is to promote the socio-economic development of the South West region.
“If established with the President’s permission, the Commission will receive funding from the federation account and donations from development partners, similar to other zonal development commissions.
It will focus on addressing infrastructure deficits and ecological challenges in the region,” Senator Kaka stated.
Following the report, the Senate moved into a committee of the whole for a clause-by-clause review of the bill, which was then passed for the third time.
Deputy Senate President Senator Barau Jibrin, who presided over the session, praised the committee for its work on the bill.
He emphasized that the Commission, like others recently established, would tackle infrastructural and environmental issues in the South West.
“The goal of these various development commissions is to accelerate the development of the entire country,” Jibrin said, expressing confidence that President Bola Tinubu would sign the bill into law as he has done with similar bills for other regions.