Senate Passes N’East Dev Commission Bill …As Senators Seek Special Status For Lagos

The bill for the establishment of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) was finally passed by the Senate, yesterday, with Kano and Plateau states as additional beneficiaries of the commission.
The NEDC Bill was passed following a clause-by-clause consideration of the report of the ad hoc committee set up by Senate to harmonise all grey areas earlier detected in the bill.
Shortly after the passage of the NEDC Bill , the three senators for Lagos State, indicated their readiness to re-introduce the Bill seeking a special economic consideration for Lagos State.
The bill seeks one percent of the national revenue to be set aside for provision of infrastructure for Lagos State.
This bill was earlier rejected shortly after it was presented for passage.
The Lagos senators lamented that the Bill was thrown away earlier by their colleagues.
However, the NEDC bill, which seeks to establish a commission to rebuild the North East region, ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency, was sponsored by Senator Murtala Nyako, representing Adamawa Central.
Major highhlights of the bill include that three per cent of the Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of the country be set aside by the Federal Government for the North East Development Commission for a period of 10 years.
The Bill also provides that the commission should have its headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.
Further details of the Bill, include that the Federal Government should set aside 10 per cent of the federal allocations of the states affected, donations from the donor agencies and international partners are also part of the sources of revenue for the commission as well as 15 per cent of licensing fee of solid mineral exploration that takes place in the member states.
The Bill also provides that a 50 per cent deduction of the ecological fund, meant for the states, should be given to the six North Eastern states.
Former Governor of Kano State, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who spoke to National Assembly correspondents after the passage of the bill, said that Kano and Plateau were added because the states were also grossly affected by insurgency .
Kwankwaso disclosed that the two states made a case to the senators, and they accepted their request, adding that the amendment was included before the bill was passed at third reading by the Senate.
He also noted that the Senate will still send the Bill to the House of Representatives for concurrence before it would be sent to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State senators, led by Olugbenga Ashafa, addressing the press after plenary on the need for the special budgetary allocation to Lagos State, said there was need for the Senate to consider the issues that affect other parts of the country, pointing out that given the key role Lagos plays as home to many Nigerians and as an ex-capital of Nigeria, there was need to grant it special economic consideration.
Ashafa urged his colleagues in the Senate to have a rethink on the Lagos State special grant bill.

Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi, Abuja