BEVERLY HILLS, CA, July 01, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives Tuesday moved to actualise its dream of creating a constituency development fund as it passed for second reading a bill for an Act to establish the fund.
Leading debate on the bill, the sponsor, Hon. Ben Nwankwo, said because 70 per cent of Nigerians live in the rural areas, the intention of the bill was to ensure that good governance is delivered to the crucial areas.
“The bill is intended to correct the top-bottom approach of governance and replace it with the reverse,” the lawmaker stated.
He argued that the bill, when passed into law, “will ensure that certain portion of the nation’s annual budget will be set aside for rural development,” stressing that its main thrust “is to legitimise the contentious constituency support project.”
In his debate on the bill, Hon. Sunday Adepoju said the bill is important because of the dearth of infrastructure in rural areas, “which has contributed to the persistence of rural-urban migration and unemployment in the country.”
Contributing to the bill, Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Delta) cited section 14 and 16 of the 1999 Constitution and argued that the idea of the bill is to protect democracy, noting that after all, “majority of the constituent parts that make up Nigeria are in the rural area.”
The bill, titled: “A bill for an act to establish the Constituency Development Fund for the purpose of even development of all constituencies in the federation and for other connected purposes” has been referred to the House joint committees on Constituency Outreach and Justice for further legislative actions.
Also on Tuesday, the House passed for second reading a bill that seeks to amend the DICON Act, No 14 of 1964 and for other matters related therewith aimed at adequately equipping the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) in view of the security challenges inthe country.
While presenting the bill, the sponsor, Hon. Eddie Mbadiwe (PDP, Imo), said the amendment would make DICON more efficient and effective inits operations in view of the security situation in the country.
In his contribution, Hon. Emmanuel Jime (APC, Benue) contended that there is no better time to equip the Nigerian military than now, saying the current level of insecurity makes it necessary.
Similarly, the House also passed for second reading a bill to amend the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Customary Court Act, 2004 forclarity and efficiency.
Sponsor of the bill Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Delta) said the areas to be amended are Sections 2 (1), 6 (b), 16 (b to 2) and 21 of the principal Act.
He said the amendment would provide for a chairman and three members for the FCT Customary Court all of whom would be referred to as judges against what obtains in the Act.
He suggested that Sections 2 (3), 14 (1) and 16 should be deleted in order to remove ambiguities contained therein.
The bill has been referred to the committee on judiciary for further legislative action.
SAINT MUGAGA, ABUJA
