BREAKING NEWS: Reps step down diaspora trust fund, same sex marriage amendment bills

House of Representatives, Wednesday, stepped down the second reading of two bills seeking to establish Nigeria Diaspora Intervention Trust Fund and amendment for same sex act.

The development came on the heels of a heated debate mostly against the bills.

The bills were sponsored by Hon. Bamidele Salam from Osun state and Hon. Kabiru Alhassan Rurum from Kano State respectively.

Salam in the lead debate on the general principle of the bill said the trust fund was to principally provide a framework to substantially protect the investment of Nigerians in the diaspora whose remittances ran into billions of dollars, noting that about $3.4 billion (USD) had been remitted to Nigeria’s economy by Nigerians in diaspora.

He said: “This trust fund is in existence through the initiative of the Nigerian in Diaspora Commission but it is not governed by an act of parliament and we believe very strongly that for the trust fund to be protected and for it to have the desired effect, in terms of providing a framework to protect the hard earned resources of our fellow citizens who send in their monies from the various parts of the world into this country.

“Provide a framework that can provide them technical support in terms of where they can invest their money and ensure that they are protected from the unwholesome activities of some Nigerians locally, who take advantage of the fact that Nigerians in diaspora are not around and they may not have the way of putting their eyes on their investments to dupe them of their hard earned resources.

“We decided to have a framework which put together a body of honest Nigerians, to offer this support to Nigerians in diaspora; number one it will encourage them to remit more of their money to the Nigerian economy and two, it will also provide this economy with the needed benefit of having the best value for the money that is being remitted.”

But no sooner had Salem finished than Hon. Gboluga Ikengboju from Ondo state opposed the bill, saying what was needed to protect Nigerians in the diaspora was not establishment of a trust fund but strong laws and institutions.

“Funds don’t give our people in diaspora that protection. What we need to protect their interest, their investment in Nigeria is strong and formidable laws and institutions that will protect their interest.

“We quite agree that most of our people in the diaspora could fall victim to some of the manipulative tendencies of fraudulent people in Nigeria. So, the question to ask Mr. Speaker is this trust fund going to guarantee the security and interest of Nigerians in diaspora? My answer is if we interrogate this need to establish trust fund is no,” he said.

In her contribution also, Hon. Lynda Ikpeazu from Anambra state said that the House can not legislate on all matters, stressing that the bill was more of private sector.

“If the diasporans decide that they want to invest in Nigeria, I think it is a personal decision that they investigate and make informed decisions as to where they want to invest. I don’t believe that the legislation is necessary.

“We legislate on everything and that is dangerous. The idea of this fund should be something that should be left to private individuals and it is not something that we should sit in this hallowed chambers and make a legislation on”, she said.

In the same vein, Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai urged the sponsor of the bill to step it down for lack of merit.

“Let’s look at merits of this bill. The history of trust fund is intervention on institution established by law to cure certain defects in implementation of such laws.

“I don’t see any need for this trust fund because it is vague, it does not cure anything. I call on the proponent of this bill to step it down. Mr speaker this bill should be dropped,” Ossai said.

On his part, the deputy minority leader of the House, Toby Okechukwu requested for the “economics” of the bill from the sponsor.

“I think what is germane is for Salem to brief us on the economics of this bill. Where are the accruals going to come from? Is it from government? Is it from those in diaspora or is it a matter of willingness or is it going to be taxed so that there should be clarity on what we are to do and for what purpose that fund would be meant for? Who is going to manage it? If he lays that to rest, we will be able to take a decision on it,” he said.

Aggregating the opposing views, Salem decided to step down the bill.

“In view of apparent lack of sufficient information on this bill, I want to move that I have the leave of the House to step down this bill”, he said.

Ruling on the bill, the deputy speaker, Hon. Ahmed Wase said the sponsor of the bill should have followed the direction of the argument to step down the bill for long.

“This is what you would have done ab initio. When you hear colleagues moving to a particular direction, it is only wise to move to the direction or take the wisdom behind their own solutions. So second reading of the bill stepped down by the leave of the House,” Wase said.

In a relationship development, the House also stepped down the second reading of a bill for an act to amend Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2013 to Prohibit Cross Dressing; and for Related Matters.

The sponsor of the bill, Muda Lawal Umar in his lead debate faulted the idea same sex marriage which to him prompted the idea of cross dressing, saying it was foreign to Nigeria.

But hardly had he started reading the details of the bill than the deputy speaker, Wase  advised the sponsor to withdraw the bill, asking him to study the culture of Nigerians first.

“I think you need to work further. Understand the differences and diversity in this country. My take is that you step down this bill for further instructions”, he ruled, necessitating the stepping down of the bill.