Reps Pass South-South, North-West Dev’t Commission Bills

The House of Representatives has passed a bill for an Act to Establish the South-South Development Commission for a third reading.

The commission is to be charged with the responsibility of receiving and managing funds from the Federation Account Allocation and other sources, donations, grants and aids for integration, development, resolution of infrastructural deficits, militancy, and communal crises, as well as tackling ecological and environmental problems and related matters in the region.

The Green Chamber also passed a bill for an Act to Establish the North West Development Commission, which is charged with the responsibility, among other things, of receiving and managing funds from the Allocation of the Federation Account and International Donors for the Settlement, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Roads and Houses.

When established, the commission will also use the funds generated to repair business premises destroyed by Multidimensional crises, tackle the menace of poverty, literacy levels, ecological problems, and any other related environmental or development challenges in the North West states, and for related matters.

The lawmakers also passed the N549.67 billion appropriation bill (budget) for the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in the 2024 financial year.

This followed the consideration and adoption of the report of the Committee on NCC by the Committee of Supply and the passage of the bill through a third reading at the plenary yesterday.

Of the total sum, N115.05 billion is for recurrent expenditures, N18.02 billion is for capital expenditures, N66.78 billion is for special projects, and N17 billion is for transfer to the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF).

Also, N332.80 billion is for transfer to the federal government, and N2,044 is surplus/deficit transfers for the financial year ending 31 December 2024.