The House of Representatives said on Monday that transparency and accountability underlies public hearing on the controversial Control of Infectious Disease Bill (CID), 2020 which will soon be organised.
Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila explained that the two day public hearing would be opened to memoranda and position papers to be submitted by members of the public to be taken into consideration.
Gbajabiamila stated this, when some Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) paid him a courtesy call in his office, adding that the effects of the Covid 19 disease during and after its outbreak are of paramount concern to the House.
The CSOs who were led by Clement Nwankwo, the Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), also had in attendance Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC); Mufuliat Fijabi, Chief Executive Officer, Women Trust Fund and Samson Itodo, Executive Director, Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth and Advancement (YIAGA).
He said while the House would step up its oversight responsibility on issues and palliative programmes around Covid-19, the 9th Assembly’s Legislative Agenda would be rejigged to reflect the realities of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Saying that the House would continue to observe its weekly sitting and add more days when necessary, the Speaker assured that the House would continue to pass critical legislation during the Covid-19 period.
“On the Control of Infectious Disease Bill, we are aware that many of the comments it generated are genuine.
“Some were political and some were clearly based on the misunderstanding of the bill but we can not ignore any and that is why we are taking it to public hearing.
“It is going to be conducted over two days and because we don’t want to endanger anyone’s life, all the Covid-19 protocols would be observed in a hall that is supposed to take 300 people, we will have about 40.”
