Buhari Declines Assent To Five Bills

The President’s decision was contained in five letters forwarded to the Senate, and read during the plenary on Wednesday.

President Muhammadu Buhari has declined assent to five bills from the National Assembly.

The President’s decision was contained in five letters forwarded to the Senate, and read during the plenary on Wednesday.

Senate President Bukola Saraki read the letters on the President’s decision to decline assent.

The rejected bills are: Nigerian Film Commission Bill, 2018; Immigration Amendment Bill, 2018; Climate Change Bill, 2018; Chartered Institute of Pension Practitioners of Nigeria Bill, 2018; and the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill, 2018.

On the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill, the President said there are "too many technical subjects the bill fails to address", just as he cited areas such as surveillance and digital protection, lawful interception of communication, digital protection and retention. He advised that the scope of the bill be limited to the protection of human rights within the digital environment "to reduce the challenge of duplication and legislative conflict in the future”.

The climate change bill was declined because “the scope and guiding principle of the bill replicates the function of the Federal Ministry of Environment which is charged with mainstreaming climate responses and actions into government polices, but does not suggest the scrapping of the ministry".