The House of Representatives, on Wednesday, unanimously passed a
resolution to recommit the Nigerian Peace Corps (Establishment)
Bill to the Committee of the Whole, for passage.
This means the Bill shall be passed after clause-by-clause
considerations at the Committee of the Whole.
The reintroduced Bill passed First Reading in the House of
Representatives July 3, 2019.
The Nigerian Peace Corps Bill, which was recently re-gazetted as
HB. 17 was re-introduced and sponsored by the Chief Whip, Hon.
Mohammed Tahir Monguno.
Monguno while leading a debate on the motion to re-introduce the
bill yesterday, said the move to reconsider the Bill in the
Committee of the Whole was in pursuant to Order 12, Rule 16 of the
Standing Order of the House, which prescribed that, a Bill passed
by the previous Assembly, “upon being re-gazetted or clean copies
circulated, be reconsidered in the Committee of the Whole without
being commenced de-novo”.
Recall that the Nigerian Peace Corps Bill, which was passed by
the two Chambers of the 8th National Assembly, was not assented to
by President Muhammadu Buhari for some reasons.
The bill seeks to give statutory backing to the existing Peace
Corps of Nigeria, with a core mandate to “Develop, Empower and
provide gainful Employment for the youths, facilitate Peace,
Volunteerism, Community Services, Neighbourhood watch and
Nation-building; and for other Related Matters”.
While reacting to the re-introduction of the Bill, National
Commandant, Peace Corps of Nigeria, Dr Dickson Akoh, on behalf of
the Organisation, expressed his gratitude to the Honourable
Speaker, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and the entire Members of the
House of Representatives, for the decision to revisit the Bill.
Akoh while speaking in a phone chat urged members of the
organisation to be patient and remain steadfast, as he is very
optimistic that the Bill will see the light of the day this time
around.
According to him, the main reason given by President Muhammad
Buhari for not assenting the Bill has been taken care of.