Senate approves establishment of North Central development Commission

The Nigerian Senate has passed a Bill to establish the North-Central Development Commission.

The Bill, sponsored by Musa Sani, the Senator representing Niger East, and Abba Morro, who represents Benue South passed a third reading after the Upper Chamber considered the report of its Committee on special duties during plenary on Thursday.

The Bill will be transmitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent.  If established, the sponsors argued that the Commission would catalyse the development of the arrays of potential in the North-Central as well as address the gap in infrastructural development of the region.

The commission would be saddled with the responsibility of receiving and managing funds from the federal government and donors for the resettlement, rehabilitation, integration and reconstruction of roads, houses and business premises of victims of flood and farmers/herders clashes, communal clashes, construction of large format drainage systems, dredging of rivers Niger and Benue to control flood and incidental matters.

The Commission will also tackle the menace of poverty, illiteracy and other related environmental or developmental challenges facing North Central Nigeria.

The Bill was first sponsored in the 9th Senate by Moro where it passed First and Second Readings but could not get presidential assent before the expiration of the 9th Senate.

Barau Jibrin, the Deputy Senate President who presided over the plenary expressed optimism that President Tinubu would assent to the bill for the overall development of North Central Nigeria, which comprises Kogi, Niger, Benue, Kwara, Plateau, Nasarawa and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The regional commissions currently in existence include the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), established to intervene on issues and development in the Niger Delta areas; and the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) which was established following the devastation of the north-east by Boko Haram insurgents.

Meanwhile, the Senate in February 2024 passed a bill for an Act to establish the South-East Development Commission (SEDC).

In May, the Senate also passed a bill to establish the North West Development Commission (NWDC). All these bills are currently awaiting presidential assent.