North-West lawmakers hail Tinubu over devt commission

North-West lawmakers caucus in the House of Representatives on Friday lauded President Bola Tinubu for signing into law the North-West Development Commission Bill into law.

Recall that the President signed the bill into law on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, alongside the South-East Development Commission.

The caucus is made up of lawmakers from the seven States of Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Jigawa, Katsina and Zamfara.

Addressing a press conference on Friday at the National Assembly Complex, spokesman for the group and lawmaker representing Jibia/Kaita Federal Constituency, Katsina State, Mr Sada Soli commended Tinubu for the feat, saying that the singing of the bill “Will cause the rebuilding of our ruined infrastructure, from roads, schools, health facilities and markets, to homes and places of worship, business premises and other social amenities.

“It comes on the heels of the recent policy decisions that underline President Tinubu’s fervent patriotism, and his determination to ensure that growth and development permeate every region of the country.”

He continued, “We, the House of Representatives North West Caucus are particularly gratified with the signing of the North-West Development Commission Bill, which was sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau, in the effort to ginger the economic and social development of the geo-political zone and restore parity to a people who for years were forced to watch as their lands were ravaged by the gratuitous violence of bandits and other miscreants.”

According to the All Progressives Congress chieftain, “The Commission brings renewed hope to a geopolitical zone whose social fabric and mental well-being have been brutalised by senseless violence that has been unabating and intractable.

“The sporadic attacks have since escalated into a multi-dimensional crisis that has hampered agricultural activities and trade and turned some of the most industrious and thriving communities in the North West geopolitical zone into ghost towns as people flee their homes and become refugees.

“This has manifestly impacted the famous cross-border trade and flourishing agribusiness between the geopolitical zone and neighbouring countries. Most of our border constituencies, which were historically vibrant commercial centres, with massive large-scale farmers exporting produce to various parts of Africa, including Niger Republic, Mali, and Benin Republic, have since been abandoned by farmers, importers and exporters, due to this wanton violence.”

This, he said, has resulted in a shortfall in the Internally Generated Revenues of the states in the region.
Soli came short of saying that the signing of the bill was a reward from the President for a region that voted overwhelmingly for him during the 2023 general election.

He said, “Politically, in voting so overwhelmingly for President Tinubu in the last election, the North West geopolitical zone had hoped that the famous Asiwaju, who had shown himself to be a patriot of the first order and a man who believed in fairness and equity, would make policy decisions that will bring development to our states by rescuing them from the evils of banditry and cross border terrorism.

“This commission is, therefore, a tremendous boost to the valiant efforts of the governors of the North West geopolitical zone and it has further justified our trust in President Tinubu’s commitment to help revamp this geopolitical zone and place it on a sound pedestal.”

That said, the caucus called on the President to intensify the war against insurgency and other forms of security challenges in the country even as they called on organisers of the August 1 nationwide protest to give peace a chance.