The Senate has stepped down further consideration of the report on the North East Development Commission Bill, 2016 and has set up during its plenary on Tuesday 14th June, 2016 a six man Ad-hoc committee to consider the financial implication and location of the proposed commission’s headquarters. It would be recalled that the Bill was read for the second time on 16th December 2015 and referred to the committees on special duties and establishment for further legislative action.
Highlighting the absence of the financial provision in the report read by the Chairman of the committee on special duties, Sen. Abdulaziz Nyako (APC:Adamawa), Sen. James Manager (PDP:Delta) noted that details on funding of the Commission was missing from clause 16 of the report. In addition, there were various contentions on where the headquarters of the Commission should be situated. For instance, while Sen. Malam Ali Wakili (APC:Bauchi) canvassed for a headquarters in Bauchi state, Sen. Baba Kaka Bashir Garba (APC:Borno) was of the view that the headquarters of the Commission should be located in Borno State to compensate its indigenes on the devastating socio-economic consequences of insurgency. He also said a headquarters in Borno was critical to giving hope to its people.
To reconcile these differences, the deputy senate president, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu (PDP:Enugu) suggested a further consideration of the report by the North East Caucus. The senate president, Sen. Bukola Saraki (APC:Kwara) preferred that the senate nominate one senator from each of the geo-political zones, including the two chairmen Sen. Abdulaziz Nyako (APC:Adamawa) and Sen. Emmanuel Paulker (PDP:Bayela) to look into the issue of funding and location of the headquarters.
Other members of the Ad-hoc committee include: Sen. Sam Egwu (PDP:Ebonyi), Sen. Donald Alasoadura (APC:Ondo), Sen. Dino Melaye (APC:Kogi) and Sen. Aliyu Wamakko (APC:Sokoto)
