Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives has finally thrown out the controversial Nigerian Peace Corps Bill when it voted against an override of President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto.
President Buhari had, in a letter to the House, in February, said he was withholding assent to the Nigerian Peace Corps Bill, which was earlier passed by both chambers of the National Assembly, because of security and financial considerations.
Regardless, Chairman of the Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrasak Namdas told newsmen that the lower chamber of the National Assembly will override the president’s assent on the bill.
Leading debate on the override yesterday, chairman, Committee on Rules and Business, Hon Emmanuel Orker-Jev said the country has a lot to benefit from the Peace Corps when established. He recalled that during the public hearing on the bill, 594 written and oral presentations were made before the committee.
The lawmaker, who appealed passionately to his colleagues to support the override, eplained that 95 per cent of those who made presentation were strongly in support of the bill, an indication that a lot of Nigerians wanted the Peace Corps.
Similarly, Namdas, said “the essence of government is security and welfare.
“This Peace Corps can help to address the security in the country. We should not look at the funding alone, but, we should also look at the security situation in this country. The Nigerian Army, today, is overwhelmed. In my own opinion, we should support this bill.”
On the flipside, however, Bashir Baballe said that there is no need setting up a new security agency in the country, when the government has not properly funded existing ones.
He said whatever resources that would be used to fund the Peace Corps, when established, can be deployed to existing security agencies.
“Our securities are underfunded. The Police, army, Navy and Air Force are underfunded. Why are we bringing a new one when we cannot fund the existing ones. The Nigerian Peace Corps is a volunteer group. If we have this money, we can use it to boost the existing security forces,” the lawmaker reiterated.