Dipo Olowookere
By Ebitonye Akpodigha
On Wednesday, members of the Nigerian Senate rejected a bill proposed by Senator Oluremi Tinubu seeking a special status for Lagos State being the country’s commercial capital.
Mrs Tinubu is a Senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the National Assembly.
At the plenary yesterday, the floor of the Senate turned rowdy when the bill was debated by members.
Senator Olusola Adeyeye of the APC from Osun State, who supported the bill, set the tone for this.
He said Lagos was entitled to receiving similar attention the FCT was getting from the Federal Government.
He described the FCT Abuja as a ‘pampered child’, which incurred the wrath of the Senator representing the FCT, Mr Philip Aduda, who got the support of northern Senators.
Mr Adeyeye was asked to withdraw his statement, but refused.
However, he later succumbed after the Deputy Senate President, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, asked him to withdraw the statement and this brought a relative peace in the red chamber.
When the bill was subsequently put up for voice votes, the lawmakers unanimously rejected it.
The bill had wanted to make Lagos get a percentage from Nigeria’s revenue.
