Special status bill for Lagos, others passes second reading

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos

The House of Representatives on Wednesday deferred the passage of the 2017-2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework till Tuesday, next week.

Also, a bill seeking a special funding status for Lagos State passed second reading at the House.

President Muhammadu Buhari is expected at the National Assembly on Wednesday next week, to present the estimates of the 2017 budget.

By the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, the MTEF, which sets out government’s spending plans for the next three years, must first be considered and approved before touching the budget estimates.

The document had been listed on the Order Paper to be introduced for debate by the Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, but it was dropped dramatically.

It was the majority leader himself, who requested that the MTEF should be stood down because members had yet to be availed of the details to prepare them for the debate.

However, Gbajabiamila was sighted moments before the document was stepped down, moving from row to row, speaking to members on the need to endorse the document.

The PUNCH later learnt that lawmakers had yet to agree on some grey areas in the document.

The development came as a bill seeking a special funding status for Lagos State passed second reading at the House.

The bill passed second reading just some days after the Senate rejected a similar bill.

However, at the House, the bill succeeded because the sponsors included Kano, Anambra and other states “with cities within the threshold of 10 million inhabitants” as beneficiaries.

By special status, the bill proposes that the beneficiary states will get as much as 20 per cent extra of federal funds to develop infrastructure and cater for increaing population.

The bill was titled, “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004, to grant Special Economic Consideration to Certain States in Nigeria and other Matters related thereto.”

The sponsors were Mr. Babajimi Benson; Linda Ikpeazu; Danburam Abubakar-Nuhu; and Sadiq Ibrahim.