The Senate has finally passed the National Transport Commission Bill, aimed at setting the transport sector on the path of positive development. The National Transport Commission bill was sponsored for the first time in 2008 but could not be passed till the end of the assembly due to the complex nature of the bill.
The current version of the National Transport Commission Bill was sponsored by Senator Andy Uba and was read for the second time on the floor of the Senate on 7th of October, 2015 after which the Senate referred the Bill to the Joint Senate Committee of Land Transport, Marine Transport and Aviation Transport, chaired by Senator Gbenga Ashafa representing Lagos East Senatorial District.
The Chairman of the Joint Senate Committee, Senator Ashafa and other members held interactive sessions with stakeholders in the Transport Industry to evaluate the bill including a public hearing before same was presented to the Senate for third reading.
Commenting on the passage of the bill, Senator Ashafa, expressed his excitement over the passage of the bill having worked assiduously with other members of the committee and stake holders to ensure that the best possible version of the bill is passed into law.
Ashafa 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 economic and safety oversight regulator for the transport 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 addded, “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 inputs from stake holders were considered and the best possible version of the bill was presented to the Senate.”
Ashafa therefore, expressed appreciation to the Senate President, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki for his commitment to prioritizing bills that would have great impact on the economy.
