A Bill seeking for the establishment of the Federal Capital Territory Satellite Towns Development Commission which was sponsored by Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed has passed second reading in the Nigerian Senate.
Senator Wadada, who is a member of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, speaking on the general principles of the Bill, said the proposed commission will grow and supervise the infrastructural development of Satellite towns.
He added that the mandate of the commission shall include amelioration of the infrastructure deficits, manage urban sprawl, and promote sustainable development within the satellite towns.
According to him, the Bill which was first read on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, is an initiative aimed at addressing the growth and infrastructure needs of the FCT Satellite Towns
“The FCT is 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 Federal Capital Territory.
“The creation of the Federal Capital Territory has also continued to have significant socio-cultural, economic, and political impacts on the surrounding towns and communities.
“While Abuja has become a hub for governmental, political, and economic activities, the neighboring 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.
“While Abuja flourishes as the nation’s political center, neighboring towns continue to face underdevelopment as their Local economies struggle to compete with the wealth generated in Abuja thereby creating a stark economic divide.
“The FCT Satellite Towns Development Commission Bill proposes the establishment of the FCT Satellite Towns development Commission to cater for Satellite towns that are to be determined by a 60 Kilometers distance into all the contiguous states of the FCT”, he said.
In his contribution, Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa ( APC, Niger East) described the bill as very important.
“From the lead debate, the intent of this bill is to see how FCT could augment the suffering of the satellite towns including the border towns. Looking at the influx of people within the satellite towns, the majority of people work in the facility.
“Due to this influx a lot of infrastructural facilities are over stretched and most of them made obsolete.
“With the coming of this bill, it is necessary to look at how to augment the haphazard structures that have been established. There is a need to look at this bill and give it the necessary attention so that we can correct the anomalies that are there,” he said.
The Senate accordingly after debate on the bill, mandated its committee on FCT, to make legislative inputs into it and report back within two weeks.
Bill seeking establishment of FCT Development Commission passes second reading in Senate