Senate to reintroduce Gender Equality Bill soon, says Saraki

Senate President, Bukola Saraki today said that the 8th Senate will soon reintroduce the Gender Equality Bill that was thrown out by the senators at plenary three weeks ago.

Saraki gave the assurance in Abuja  when the United Nations (UN) Country Representative, Fatimah Samora led a delegation of members of the United Nation Development Programmes (UNDP) on a visit to the Senate President.

He said that the bill would be re-listed as soon as possible all contending issues of violence, participation in governance, education and entrepreneurship would have been addressed in the new bill.

Responding to the address by the UN Country Representative in Nigeria on the need to revisit the controversial Gender Equality Bill, he said: “I can assure you that the bill will be reintroduced as soon as possible as all contending issues in the bill like violence, education and inheritance are being addressed.”

‎According to the Senate President, “I want to reassure you that this Senate is going to pursue goals similar to that of the United Nations in Nigeria. You can see we have a size able number of the Senators present here, that reflects the readiness and commitment of this present Senate to collaborate with you. We are very keen to have the Bill come back to us as soon as possible and we are very hopeful that this time around it would be passed.

“The issues regarding education, participation in governance, entrepreneurship have been identified, I am sure that by the time the bill is reconsidered it will sail through”.

Earlier, the UN Country Representative, Fatimah Samora appealed for financial support in the furnishing of the rehabilitated UN Building in Abuja that was bombed by the Boko Haram insurgents in 2010.

Though she did not mention any amount, she said that the amount is huge, adding that  the building would be reopened during the fifth anniversary of the bombing which will take place in August this year.

Samora also solicited for increased counterpart funding of the HIV pandemic and more funds to enable communities displaced by the Boko Haram in the Northeast return to their respective homes.

She also appealed to the Senate President to ensure that the Federal Government addresses the perennial crises and clashes  between host communities and herdsmen, especially the clashes between the Fulanis and the Agatu communities in Benue state.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has condemned in strong terms, the killing of unarmed Nigerians in Uzo-Uwani Council of Enugu State by persons suspected to be armed herdsmen.

This is even as he called for an immediate resolution of the unending conflict between farmers and cattle herdsmen, threatening to throw the entire nation into another round of crisis.

Ekweremadu made the call at plenary when he relied on Order 43 of the Senate Standing Orders to make a Personal Explanation over the mayhem in Uzo- Uwani community, where he said over 50 lives were reportedly lost, while over 2000 persons were displaced and homes amid property worth millions of Naira were destroyed.

He called on the Senate to immediately conduct a public hearing to enable all stakeholders to state their feelings and experiences with a view to finding a lasting solution to the issue.

 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE