Abuja – The Nigerian Senate on Thursday passed the National Transport Commission Bill, exactly 10 years after it was first sponsored.
The commission is expected to create a multi-modal transport system that will drive the nation’s transport policy and engender speedy economic development.
After it was read for the second time on the floor of the Senate on October 7, 2015, the Senate reportedly referred the bill to the Joint Senate Committee on Land Transport, Marine Transport and Aviation Transport chaired by Senator Gbenga Ashafa, representing Lagos East Senatorial District.
Ashafa was quoted in a statement as expressing his excitement at the passage of the bill, having worked assiduously with other members of the committee and stakeholders to ensure that the best possible version of the bill was passed.
He said, “The National Transport Commission, when signed into law, is capable of setting the transport sector on the path of positive development. With this bill, we would successfully create a multi-modal transport sector for economic and safety oversight regulator of the sector. This is very good for business as it brings standard and structure to the transport sector while also increasing the revenue of government.”
He also said, “The Joint Senate Committee worked with the understanding that this is one of the priority economic bills of the 8th Senate and therefore ensured that all input from stakeholders were considered and the best possible version of the bill was presented to the Senate.”
Ashafa expressed appreciation to the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, for his commitment to prioritizing bills that would have great impact on the economy.
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