The Senate on Wednesday advanced a major reform effort in Nigeria’s development planning architecture as the Bill to establish the Chartered Institute of Planning of Nigeria (CIPN), sponsored by Senator Ede Dafinone, scaled Second Reading on the floor of the National Assembly.
Senator Dafinone, who led the debate, said the Bill seeks to “grant chartered status to an Institute that has existed for over 22 years,” formally empowering it as a statutory professional body mandated “to regulate, standardise, and advance the practice of planning nationwide.”
According to him, the proposed law addresses Nigeria’s “long-standing weak planning framework,” which he identified as a root cause of inconsistent policies, abandoned projects, poor inter-agency coordination, and ineffective implementation of national development plans. He stressed that chartering the Institute would provide a unified national planning structure covering “economic, infrastructural, environmental, social, corporate, and strategic planning,” while enforcing rigorous standards for training, ethics, certification, and continuous professional development.
Dafinone emphasised that the bill poses no financial implications for the Federal Government. “I also clarified that the Bill imposes no financial burden on the Federal Government, as the Institute is designed to be fully self-funding through its professional activities and partnerships,” he said.
Describing the progress made, the Delta Central lawmaker noted, “The successful Second Reading marks an important milestone,” expressing confidence that the Institute, once chartered, would play a pivotal role in strengthening Nigeria’s long-term development planning and governance.
