The Senate has passed the South East Development Commission (SEDC) Bill, an agency that will take charge of the rehabilitation and provision of infrastructure in the South-East geopolitical zone of the country.
The concurrence bill was first passed by the House of Representatives in December, 2021.
It was sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Rep. Benjamin Kalu.
On Thursday, the Senate also passed it, barely 24 hours after the bill passed second reading on Wednesday.
At Thursday’s Committee of the Whole, which was Chaired by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, senators did a clause-by-clause consideration of the bill before passing it.
Lawmakers approved the long title of the bill as recommended, clause 2 as amended, clause 3 to 5 as recommended, clause 6 as amended, clauses 7 to 29 as recommended, interpretation clause 30 as recommended, short title clause 31 as recommended, schedules 1 and explanatory memorandum as recommended.
The proposed commission, according to the bill, will perform functions, including “conceive, plan and implement, in accordance with the set rules and regulations, projects and programmes for the sustainable development of the South East States in the field of transportation including roads, health, education, employment, agriculture, industrialization, housing and urban development, water supply, electricity and telecommunications; cause the South-East States to be surveyed in order to ascertain measures which are necessary to promote its physical and socio-economic development.
“Implement all the measures approved for the development of the South East States by the Federal Government and the member States of the Commission; identify factors inhibiting the development of the South East States and assist the member States in the formulation and implementation of policies to ensure sound and efficient management of the resources of the South East States; assess and report on any project being funded or carried out in the South-East States by mineral extracting and mining companies, oil and gas producing companies, and any other company including non-governmental organisations and ensure that funds released for such projects are properly utilised.
“It is also to “tackle ecological and environmental problems that arise from the extraction and mining of solid mineral, exploration of oil mineral in the South-East States and advise the Federal Government and the member States on the prevention and control of oil spillages, gas flaring and environmental pollution; liaise with the various solid mineral extraction and mining companies and oil and gas prospecting and producing companies on all matters of pollution prevention and control; and execute such other works and perform such other functions which in the opinion of the Commission are required for the sustainable development of the South-East States and its peoples.”
Speaking after passing the bill, the Senate President said, “It’s a very important bill passed by this 10th Senate, this bill addresses all the fears of our brothers and sisters from the South-East. I want to say congratulations. I pray this commission will bring a lot of development to Sout-East and we will assist you to stop any form of agitation and bring peace to your region. When harmonised, it will address the fears of the south-east”.
Recall that the two other bills, South-West Development Commission Bill and North-Central Development Commission Bill, passed second reading at the Senate on Wednesday.
Incidentally, a new bill, South-South Development Commission Bill, was also introduced on Thursday, in addition to the Niger Delta Development Commission already in existence.
