Project Devt Agency Underway As Bill Scales Second Reading In Senate 

A proposed legislation seeking the establishment of Project Development Agency (PDA), has been passed for second reading in the Senate.

This followed debates on the general principles of the Bill by Senators at plenary on Tuesday.

The debate was led by the sponsor of the Bill, Senator Frank Ibezim (APC, Imo North) during plenary.

The Bill, which was read for the first time on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, is titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Establish the Project Development Agency, 2023’.

Leading the debate, Senator Ibezim said that the proposed legislation seeks to give legal backing to an already existing agency, Projects Development Institute (PRODA) in Enugu, with over 40 years of existence.

“The lack of legal backing has been a major setback of having viable industrial research and growing economy in Nigeria,” the lawmaker argued.

He also said that the Bill when enacted into law would make the agency to have the mandate to, among others, conduct research in engineering, machinery and equipment development.

Supporting the Bill, Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari (APC, Kaduna North), said that the Bill was apt, adding that all the postulations in the Bill were very timely.

For his art, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, thereafter, referred the Bill to the Senate Committee on Science and Technology for further legislative action and to report back at plenary in four weeks.