The Kwara State Environmental Protection Agency Amendment Bill 2023 and the Kwara State Education Trust Fund Amendment Bill 2023 have passed their second reading at the state House of Assembly.

The two executive bills passed their respective second readings on Wednesday in Ilorin following a debate led by the house leader, Magaji Oba-Abdulkadir (APC-Ilorin Central).

Mr Oba-Abdulkadir explained that the State Education Trust Fund Amendment Bill would restructure education for optimum performance and ensure that the state can achieve the purpose of the fund’s establishment.

In his submission, Halidu Danbaba (APC-Kaiama) said any society that did not take education seriously was heading for doom because it is a tool to eradicate poverty.

On the Environmental Protection Agency Amendment Bill, the house leader worried about the indiscriminate dump of industrial and commercial wastes within the Ilorin metropolis.

He advocated increasing the penalties for erring citizens to curb the menace and deter others.

In their contributions, some lawmakers supported the amendment of the bills to address the education sector’s pressing challenges and combat poor environmental practices in the state.

In her contribution, Rukayat Shittu (APC-Owode Onire) said the bill’s quick passage on the environment would ensure a healthy state as “cleanliness is next to Godliness”.

The two bills were read for the second time by the deputy clerk, Abdul-Kareem Ahmed, during the plenary.

The speaker, Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, referred the bills to the house committees on education, human capital development, health, and environment for public hearings before returning them to the house.

The Education Trust Fund Amendment Bill is to amend the Education Trust Fund Act for more efficient trust fund management. The amendment is to streamline the board of trustees’ membership and the trust fund’s staffing towards achieving cost savings and enhancing efficiency.

On the other hand, the Environmental Protection Agency Amendment Bill 2023 seeks to amend the principal law to increase the penalties for certain offences as created by the law.

The bill, when passed, will increase the penalties for committing sanitation offences under sections 34 to 50 of the principal law.

Culprits will be convicted or tried with a maximum fine of N50,000 or six months’ imprisonment for individuals and a N100,000 fine for corporate bodies.

(NAN)