The Nigerian Senate, on Thursday, September 26, 2024 passed the South West Development Commission Bill into law.
The bill’s passage followed a report presented by Senator Shehu Lawa Kaka, representing Borno Central Senatorial District and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Special Duties. While presenting the report, Senator Kaka emphasized the importance of the bill in fostering socio-economic development in the South West region.
Kaka explained, “If the Commission is established through presidential assent to the bill, it will, like other development-driven commissions established on a zonal basis, receive funds from the federation account and donations from development partners to address infrastructural deficits and tackle ecological problems in the region.”
Following this, the Senate proceeded to a clause-by-clause consideration of the bill in the Committee of the Whole before it was read for the third time and subsequently passed.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who presided over the session, commended the committee for their work and praised the bill for addressing challenges in the South West. He remarked, “The South West Development Commission, like other ones recently established, will address the infrastructural and ecological challenges in the region.”
Jibrin also expressed optimism that President Bola Tinubu would assent to the bill, saying, “President Tinubu has assented to similar bills passed for zonal development-driven interventions and will surely assent to this one.”
The bill is expected to play a critical role in tackling the infrastructural and ecological issues plaguing the South West region, similar to other commissions already established for various geopolitical zones.
