A controversial bill to give so much power to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to force Coronavirus Covid-19 yet to be discovered vaccine on Nigerians and identification certificate for those who have been vaccinated is about to be hurriedly passed by the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The 55-page
documents Bill that was rushed through 1st and 2nd readings simultaneously and
is set for passage on the 3rd reading, if passed into law will empower NCDC to
force every citizen of Nigeria to be vaccinated and be issued vaccine
certificate for identification of those that have been vaccinated, failure to
accept to be vaccinated and be certified (by any means deem fit by the NCDC)
such individual will not be allowed to purchase air tickets, board flights or
move about in public places, despite that no effective vaccine has been discovered
and successfully tried till now.
The speaker
of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila urged members to pass the bill for second and
third reading and seek concurrence from the Senate before it was sent to the
president for assent.
He called
on members to pass the Bill with the speed of light.
However,
some lawmakers were not comfortable with the speed at which the Speaker of the
House wanted the bill to be passed.
Chris
Azugbogu (PDP- Anambra), said that the Quarantine Act does not only involved
human but animals.
He noted as
well, that there was need to carry all relevant institutions along to ensure
maximum productivity.
Rep.
Sergius Ogun (PDP-Edo) said that there was need to be very careful with the
powers that would be conferred on NCDC to administer vaccines.
According
to him, rather than pass the bill and send it to the Senate for concurrence, it
should be sent to the relevant committee for more work to be done on it.
Also, Rep.
Bamidele Salam (PDP-Osun) said that pandemic times such as this, offered an
opportunity for all to critically look into procedures and processes of doing
things.
Salam said
that the bill which was supposed to have
been circulated among members ahead of debate in line with the procedures of
the house, had not been given to him.
“I have not
seen the bill and I have asked some colleagues around here and they do not have
either.
“I do not
know if the bill compels states to establish centers for emergencies, I do not
know if the bill makes it compulsory for palliatives measures under such
circumstance.
“ I suggest
this bill is stepped down and distributed to all members to give us the
opportunity to look at it very well,’’ he said.
Rep. Nkem
Abonta (PDP-Abia) said that he had only seen the title of the bill but had not
seen the bill itself.
Abonta
expressed fear that the vaccination may be made compulsory giving the
conspiracy theories all over social media on vaccination.
He said if
the house was to do away with Public Hearing on the bill which is an integral
part of lawmaking, there was need for time for members to critically look at
it, before it is passed.
“We need to
see all the details and make sure we do not create another problem when the
bill is passed into law,’’ Abonta said.
The
contributions of Abonta and Ogun, attracted a round of applause from some
members of the house even though applause was not encouraged in the chambers.
Responding,
Gbajabiamila appologised to members over his failure to circulate the bill
properly, blaming it on the emergency situation in the country.
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