Reps reject South East Devt Commission

Majority of the members of the House of Representatives yesterday rejected a bill that seeks to establish the South East Development Commission.

The rejection followed a heated debate that divided the lawmakers on North and South divides.

It took the lawmakers over an hour in debating the bill, at the end of which most of them, largely from the northern part, voted against it.

The Southeast and some South-South lawmakers protested openly after the rejection.

While rejecting the bill, Muhammad Sani Abdu (APC, Bauchi) said it was “suspicious” coming at a time southern easterners were calling for a Biafra nation.

Similarly, Muhammad Garba Datti (APC, Kaduna) argued that the sponsor of the bill, Deputy Minority Leader, Chukwuka Onyeama, was wrong to say the Southeast was marginalized.

He added that the reference to Civil War in the debate for the bill would bring further division among Nigerians.

But a proponent of the bill, Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu) said the bill would further entrench unity among Nigerians and that other regions could bring such bills in future.

After the debate, Speaker Yakubu Dogara put the debate to voice vote, to which majority of the lawmakers voted against.

It was observed that the lawmakers from both the North and the South almost clashed as a result of the rejection.