The Senate at its plenary on Thursday, 13th October 2016 has adopted recommendations for the Headquarters of the North East Development Commission to be located in Maiduguri. It also agreed that the Commission should be funded by 3% of the Federal Value Added Tax (VAT) for a time frame of ten years following its consideration of a report by a six-member ad-hoc Committee.
Presenting the report, Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Sen. Sam Egwu (PDP:Ebonyi) reported that the Ad-hoc Committee considered security, connectivity, availability of support and the general opinion of lawmakers from the North East Zone before arriving at Maiduguri as the headquarters of the Commission. However, he did not adduce reasons as to how the Committee arrived at its proposed percentage and source of funding.
It would be recalled that the Senate had stepped down further deliberation on the North East Development Commission Bill at its second reading stage in June following a division among Northern lawmakers on the most appropriate location and the financial provisions for the Commission. Consequently, a six member ad-hoc Committee was set up to determine its location and review the financial provision and source for funding which was originally proposed at 5% VAT with no time frame.
