Nigeria: House to hold public hearing on infectious diseases bill

Nigeria’s Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has announced that a two-day public hearing will be held on the government’s controversial Infectious Diseases Bill 

The hearing, which is due to take place at some point in the next few weeks, will be open to submissions from members of the public. 

The announcement comes after several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) expressed their concerns over the bill, including the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, the Women’s Trust Fund, and the Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth and Advancement. 

Speaker Gbajabiamila said that some of the comments from these NGOs were largely based on a “misunderstanding” of the bill but that it was important to address these queries nonetheless. 

The public hearing will take place with a limited capacity of 40 people - to minimise the risk of Covid-19 infections - and will be broadcast nationally on TV and radio. 

“The bill hat will be passed by the House will be the aggregate of the submissions of Nigerians,” the speaker said. 

Photo: This Day