By Naomi Sharang
A BILL for an Act to establish the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Satellite Towns Development Commission on Wednesday scaled second reading in the Senate.
This followed the presentation of the lead debate on the general principles of the bill by the sponsor, Sen. Aliyu Wadada (SDP-Nasarawa) at plenary.
The bill is tagged: “A Bill for an Act to Provide for the Establishment of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Satellite Towns Development Commission and for other related matters 2024.
Leading the debate, Wadada said the bill was read for the first reading on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
He said that the bill was an initiative aimed at addressing the growth and infrastructure needs of the FCT satellite towns.
Giving a background, the lawmaker said that the FCT was bounded by Nasarawa, Niger, Kaduna and Kogi as contiguous states.
“Since its creation, the FCT has continued to see tremendous growth as Nigeria’s federal capital.
“This rapid development has, however, come with a set of challenges, particularly to the satellite towns which are all forced to accommodate the work force of the FCT.
“While Abuja has become a hub for governmental, political and economic activities, the neighbouring towns to the FCT have continued to experience various challenges as they are all de facto extensions of Abuja.
“They continue to suffer from inadequate infrastructure, limited public services due to overcrowding and ever-growing population influx”.
He further said that while Abuja flourished as the nation’s political centre, neighbouring towns continued to face underdevelopment.
“This is as their local economies struggle to compete with the wealth generated in Abuja thereby creating a stark economic divide”.
Wadada added that the rationale for the bill was to address housing deficits.
“The rapid urbanisation of the FCT which resulted in an acute shortage of affordable housing has continued to cause mass movement of people to the satellite towns thereby creating informal settlements and slums”.
The bill was supported by senators Sani Musa (APC-Niger), Ireti Kingibe (LP-FCT) and Yahaya Abdullahi (PDP-Kebbi) who all concurred that it was a very critical bill.
The Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, who presided over plenary referred the bill to the Senate Committee on FCT for further legislative actions to report back in two weeks. (NAN)
