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Buhari rejects four bills passed by Nat’l Assembly

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Buhari rejects four bills passed by Nat’l Assembly

The Corporate Manslaughter Bill, 2018 and the National Child Protection and Enforcement Agency (NCPEA) Bill, 2018, which was recently passed by the National Assembly has been rejected by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Also rejected by the President are Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund Amendment Bill, 2018, and the Courts and Tribunal Standard Scale of Fines Bill, 2018.

Buhari gave reasons for declining assent to the bills in separate letters he sent to the National Assembly, which Senate President Bukola Saraki read out to the lawmakers at Tuesday’s plenary.

On the NCPEA Bill he explained that all the proposed responsibilities of the proposed agency are currently the statutory responsibilities of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and that establishing the agency is likely to lead to the duplication of mandates of the federal ministries, MDAs “which will result in the wastage of scarce financial and other resources.”

He said that he refused to sign the Court and Tribunal Standard Scale of Fines Bill into law because it appears to be unclear as it does not clearly state the manner by which any given offence falls under a particular level on the scale.

According to President Buhari, the proposed scale of fines is likely to conflict with the existing penalties and fines under Nigerian laws “which already impose penalties and fines for various offences. This may result in confusions.”

He added, “As the Naira value is dynamic, a fixed scale of fine may impair the ease of future review of Nigerian laws setting up penalties and fines for offences.”

Also giving reason on Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund Amendment Bill, 2018, he noted that the increase in the fund size to N50 billion will ineffective.

He however said, “I am ready to grant presidential assent to this bill once this drafting is rectified.”

READ ALSO: Buhari wants Senate to approve N164bn for 2019 elections

Finally on the Corporate Manslaughter Bill, Buhari argued that section 1(5) of the bill is inconsistent with other laws.

He added, “This provision appears to be inconsistent with section 36(5) of the 1999 constitution which enshrines the presumption of innocence until alleged offender is convicted by a court or tribunal or competent jurisdiction.

“Furthermore, it may be useful for the bill to cover instances of career ending and life threatening injuries and not just wrongful death.

“Finally, the bill should clearly specify the penalties to be imposed for the offences created by the bill.”

 

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