A bill, sponsored by Senator Ali Ndume, for the establishment of the Nigerian Peace Corps, scaled second reading at the Senate on Tuesday.
This comes after it was reintroduced to the ninth Senate on December 17, 2019, about two years after it was passed by the National Assembly in 2017.
The Peace Corps bill which arrived at the presidency in December 2019 for assent after it was transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari by the former Clerk, the president, however, declined assent to the bill in February 2018, citing security concerns as one of the reasons for his decision.
Other factors which hindered the bill, according to the president, was the paucity of funds and duplication of duties of existing security agencies by the proposed corps as his main reasons.
The Peace Corp bill is seeking to convert the non-governmental organisation, into a government paramilitary agency and also allow its members to be absolved into the proposed organisation at commencement.
Mr Ndume who led the debate said the bill had gone through all legislative processes, including a public hearing and was overwhelmingly passed by both chambers of the National Assembly.
He added that the core mandate of the Peace Corps is to develop, empower, and provide gainful employment for the youth to facilitate peace, volunteerism, community services, neighbourhood watch, nation-building and for other related matters.
While calling on other senators to support the bill, Ndume said:
“Based on its laudable achievements over the years, the Peace Corps was accorded federal government recognition, through the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development. On the international scene, the Corps was equally granted a Special Consultative Status by the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
“The Nigerian Peace Corps, when established, besides engaging millions of our unemployed youths on a permanent basis, has the capacity of complementing the functions of conventional security agencies in the areas of developing its members as supporting agents of social order by providing a second-line of public safety.”
The lawmaker also said all the issues raised by President Buhari for withholding assent to the bill in the 8th Senate had been addressed in the new bill.
The bill was seconded by the Senate leader, Abdullahi Yahaya, who also urged his colleagues to give accelerated passage to it, since it had already gone through the rudiments of lawmaking at both chambers in the 8th National Assembly.
Premium Times reports that the legislation had no objections to the bill and after being read for the second time, it was referred to the Senate Committee on Interior for further legislative actions.
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