The House of Representatives has urged the federal government to suspend the implementation of the Samoa Agreement, which was signed recently.
News About Nigeria reports that the lawmakers are calling for the suspension pending the conclusion of an investigation into the matter.
This move indicates that the House of Representatives wants to ensure that the agreement is thoroughly scrutinised before it is implemented.
This followed the adoption of a motion by the Deputy Minority Leader, Aliyu Madaki, and 88 others, at Tuesday’s plenary, calling attention to some allegedly offensive clauses in the agreement.
Recall that the federal government recently signed the Samoa Agreement, which has been trailed by controversy, with several Nigerians kicking against it.
Madaki, in his lead debate, said the agreement purportedly promotes LGBT rights, which are against extant laws in the country.
The Samoa deal sparked a barrage of reactions online with many opposing LGBT rights, which is contrary to the anti-same-sex marriages and gay relationships law enacted in 2014 by then President Goodluck Jonathan.
At the press conference on Saturday, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu; alongside his counterpart in the Ministry of Information, Mohammed Idris, said Nigeria won’t enter into an agreement that was antithetical to the constitution, as well as the religious and cultural sensibilities of the heterogeneous people of Nigeria.
Bagudu said Nigeria signed the agreement to boost food security, and inclusive economic development, amongst other vital areas.
Last November, the European Union, its 27 member states and 79 member states of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) signed an agreement in Apia, the capital of the Pacific island country of Samoa.
Hence, it was referred to as the ‘Samoa Agreement’.
