By Kemi Yesufu
The bid of the House of Representatives to pull through its threat to override President Muhammadu Buhari on Nigerian Peace Corps failed massively on Thursday.
In a suprising twist, members present resoundingly rejected the ‘bill for an Act to establish the Nigerian Peace Corps to develop, empower and provide gainful employment for the Youth, facilitate peace, volunteerism, community service, neigbourhood watch and nation-building; and for related matters (Veto Override)’, sponsored by Emmanuel Orker-Jev (APC-Benue).
When put for voice vote after a long debate, the nays had it, with the voices of members opposed to bill sounding much louder than those who supported it.
Before the voice,, Orker-Jev who doubles as chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, argued against the two reasons cited by President Buhari for withholding his assent.
“Apart from the jobs that would be crested through the establishment of Peace Corps, it will complement the activities of other security agencies like Police and Civil Defence to maintain law ad order in the country,” he said.
Other lawmakers who spoke in favour of the bill include: Tahir Monguno (APC-Borno), Ndubisi Lovette (PDP-Delta), Jonathan Gaza (APC-Nasarawa), Goni Lawan (APC-Yobe), Rita Orji (PDP-Lagos), Sunday Adepoju (APC-Oyo).
According to them, the organisation will provide platforms for thousands of unemployed youths to serve their fatherland and stop them from social vices.
Also speaking, Rimande Shawulu (PDP-Taraba) noted that the quest for the service of Nigerian Army across the country, showed the lapses in the policing and internal security of the country.
While noting that the Army is currently engaged in the functions which the Police is statutory set up to do, Shawulu argued that: “there’s need for us to bridge the gap in internal security. Actually there’s a very wide gap in policing of this country,” thereby justifying the need for Peace Corps.
He noted that 300,000 police officer is a far very to 18,000 police ratio recommended by the United Nations, which necessitated the establishment of
Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.
“There are too many ungoverned in Nigeria and there are too many black spots in Nigeria,” the Tabara lawmaker noted, adding that “Nigeria also lacks adequate manpower that could assist the security agencies in intelligence gathering.”
On his part, Simon Arabo (PDP-Kaduna) cited section 58(4) which gives the President the right to withhold assent while subsection 5 empowers National Assembly to override him.
He noted that the issue of lack of funding is unfounded as the National Assembly has the power to look into budget related issues.
He maintained that the National Assembly during the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo did not hesitate to override him on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Sunday Adepoju (APC-Oyo) noted that if NSCDC is functioning properly despite intense opposition by other security agencies, he argued that no amount is too much to provide security for the citizenry.
However, some other lawmakers who kicked against the passage of the Peace Corps bill, including: Ado Doguwa (APC-Kano), Ossai Nicholas Ossai (PDP-Delta) and Musa Adar (APC-Sokoto) expressed unreserved support for President Buhari.
“At least for the first time, I am praising Mr. President,” he said.
In his remarks, Ado Doguwa, Majority Whip who expressed concern over high unemployment rate, noted that such paramilitary organization will expose a lot of youths to weapons.
According to him, Buhari a former military has requisite knowledge of the security operations, hence his reservation.
He noted that Peace Corp was dragged to Court over corruption relate issue, signaling wrong take-off for the organization.
Also speaking, Musa Adar (APC-Sokot, argued that Nigerians alleged that the N50,000 collected from each of the applicants were to settle members of the National Assembly, hence urged the House to trash the bill.
When the Speaker eventually put the question, majority of the lawmakers across party lines voted against the passage of the Peace Corps bill.
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