Rep wants National Assembly to review regional commissions, end ethnic tension

A member of the House of Representatives, Mohammed Sani Abdu (APC, Bauchi) has asked the National Assembly to review existing regional bodies in the country.The lawmaker, who disclosed this in an interview at the weekend, said it was necessary to bring development in the southeast at par with other zones.

Abdu said his suggestion followed last Thursday dumping of a bill at the House of Representatives, to establish a Southeast Development Commission (SEDC).He said such a review of existing commissions would end ethnic tension and pacify the agitators of a sovereign state in the southeast.

The lawmaker said the bill’s disposal was not based on malice, but to allow for a more acceptable approach in resolving the agitations in the southeast zone.According to him, the establishment of a southeast commission would not be the long-term solution to the challenges, but may provide succour.

He cited the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which he said, had failed to address the numerous challenges in the region.Abdu explained that if every region were allowed to use commissions as development tool, it would divide the country further.

According to him, it was inappropriate for the bill’s sponsors to have brought it up, less than a week after the region had observed a one-day sit at home order in honour of its Biafran heroes.

Abdu also faulted the bill’s provision of three per cent of the “total budget of any oil-producing company operating onshore and offshore in the southeast states” as the source of funding the commission.