News
Senate Finally Approves South West Development Commission
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Nigerian Senate has passed for third reading , South West Development Commission Establishment Bill 2024 .
Passage of the bill for third reading by the Senate during plenary, was sequel to a report submitted to that effect by the Chairman , Senate committee on Special Duties , Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan .
Senator Kaka in his presentation of the report for establishment of South West Development Commission , said the intents and purposes of the bill , are well structured for socio – economic development of South West .
” If the Commission is established through presidential assent to the bill, it will like other development – driven commissions established on zonal basis , receives funds from the federation account, donations from development partners etc , to address infrastructural deficits and tackle ecological problems in the region “, he said .
The Senate accordingly moved into committee of the whole for clause by clause consideration of the bill after which it was read for the third time.
In his remarks after the passage of the bill , the Deputy President of the Senate , Senator Barau Jibrin who presided over the session , commended Senator Kaka led committee for a job well done .
According to him, the South West Development Commission like other ones , recently established , wiill address the infrastructiral and ecological challenges in the South West .
The essence of the various development commissions being set up , is to fast track development of the entire country .
” President Bola Tinubu has assented to similar bills passed for zonal development – driven interventions and will surely assent to this one “, he said .
According to him, such financial mishandling not only disrupts critical public services and projects but also results in major losses to the nation’s purse—resources that could have been channelled into crucial services and developmental efforts, as laid out in Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution.
Speaker Abbas, thereafter setup a Special Committee to be chaired by Rep. Chinedu Martins to immediately launch a probe into the “Utilisation of take-off grants, bailout funds, and interventions allocated to MDAs, government institutions, and GOEs from 2015 to present.”
The FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, expressed satisfaction with the progress on the Abuja light rail project, reaffirming its May 29 delivery as sacrosanct.
He made these assurances after inspecting the ongoing construction of access roads to the train stations on Wednesday, from Metro Train Station in the Central Area to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Reassuring journalists accompanying him, the minister reiterated that President Bola Tinubu would commission the rail project on May 29 to mark his second year in office.
The visited stations were Wupa station near Idu and Bassanjiwa station near the airport.
“This is part of our routine inspection of ongoing projects to see the contractors’ progress,” Wike explained.
“We are working day and night to fulfill our promise to President Tinubu and FCT residents. By May, Mr. President will ride on the Metro line.”
Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen are currently invading some communities in the Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.
According to sources, the herdsmen armed with AK-47 rifles stormed the community around 04:15pm on Thursday.
“Our lives are in danger this evening, armed Fulani herdsmen, about 600 in numbers have taken over our communities this evening,” a resident told SaharaReporters.
“They’re currently moving around towns in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue state. No security personnel at all, Governor Alia didn’t send security, they said operation will start soon once they (herders) have observed the place.”
The insecurity situation in Benue has been alarming in recent weeks with attacks from gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.
The media had reported that suspected herdsmen again unleashed terror in Benue State, attacking three communities in Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) on Wednesday, just a day after 11 people were killed in a deadly raid on Otobi community.
The latest victims of the escalating violence were Emichi, Odudaje, and Okpamaju, communities that had previously suffered an attack in February, which left five people dead.
However, the renewed attack has created fear and mass displacement among residents, with women and children fleeing to safety.
Local sources say the death toll from the fresh attack remains unclear, but several casualties are feared.
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