The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has urged the National Assembly to drop the Infectious Disease Control Bill currently before the House of Representatives.
The governors said it was important to stop further proceedings on the controversial bill until an appropriate consultative process was carried out.
The governors therefore constituted a committee comprising Governors Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto and Simon Lalong of Plateau State to spearhead a consultative meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly on the bill.
Furthermore, the 36 state governors directed the NGF Secretariat to carry out a comprehensive review of the bill especially its impact on states.
Read Also: BREAKING: COVID-19 cases exceed 5,000 in Nigeria
The Herald can report that the bill seeks to repeal the Quarantine Act of 1926 and provide new regulations which the Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila said would enable Nigeria to adequately manage situations like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gbajabiamila and two other lawmakers, Pascal Obi and Tanko Sununu, are sponsoring the bill.
It passed Second Reading on the floor of the House on Tuesday, April 28, the same day it was introduced.
However, it has been besieged by a sea of controversies, including allegation of bribery against the House leadership.
This newspaper can further report that opposition to the bill stems from such contentious provisions such as compulsory vaccination of citizens against infectious diseases, making possession of health card mandatory for international travelers leaving or arriving in Nigeria just like yellow fever card, repealing the Quarantine Act, and giving Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, the powers to take over any property for use as isolation centre.
Leave a Reply