The Lagos State House of Assembly has said it was yet to receive the copies of a bill to establish the Southwest Security Network which would legalise the planned regional security corps also known as Amotekun in the state.
Report had said all the states Assemblies in the region had received copies of the bill and would start deliberation on it earnest.
The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, was said to have taken the lead by forwarding the bill to the state’s House of Assembly for passage.
However, in a telephone interview with BusinessDay, Tuesday, the spokesman of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Tunde Buraimoh, said the House was still awaiting the bill from the executive, while promising that it was ready to give it the necessary attention toward its speedy passage.
Buraimoh said there was the possibility that the House would harmonise the bill so that the regional security outfit would be fashioned to work with the Lagos State Neighbourhood watch optimum delivery.
According to him, “Well there have been reports, but I am not aware of the bill in Lagos Assembly, but we would give it extra attention when it comes. The bill may be with the executive, but it has not been transmitted to the House, we are still awaiting the bill.
“Since we have the Lagos State Neighbourhood Watch, we expect that the bill would be harmonised so that input can be made and we see how it can work in line with Amotekun,” Buraimoh said.
Speaking further, the lawmaker representing Kosofe constituency 11, said the House was ready to work with bills to deliver on the expectation and anxious of people towards the bill, stressing that it however, must be with the armpit of the law.
“We need to be patient so that there would be uniformity in the bill among the states House of Assembly in the region. But we must faction out ways so that all contentious
areas would be remove.
“The law cannot just be turn out like that there would be consultation, so that the laws can be similar it achieve what it was met for and within the ambit of the law.
“The bill enjoys goodwill and support among our people and we are happy about that. We would be ready to work on it as soon as possible, but what needed to be done must be done. It is healthy development that the people are yearning for it and we have the political bill to get it done,” he added.
Recall that the Governors of the region reached an agreement with the federal government to set up the security network with a law after the controversy which greeted it establishment.
Similarly, other regions have since mooted the idea of floating their own regional security network as the security situation in the country degenerate.
It is however, expected that the Amotekun bill would be passed soonest by the respective states assemblies and signed into law by the Governors.
Iniobong Iwok
