The Senate at its plenary sitting on Thursday, 19 July 2018 suspended consideration of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2018 (SB 335) for passage till another legislative day. The Bill seeks to repeal the extant Act and re-enact certain provisions that intends to protect the rights of refugees, migrants, and IDPs in line with best practices.
Presenting the report on the Bill, Sen. Sunny Ogbuoji (PDP: Ebonyi), Vice- Chairman, Committee on Special Duties stated that the objectives of the Bill includes:
- Expanding the mandate of the Commission by giving it powers to act as the coordinating arm for effective administration and management of refugees, migrants and IDPs;
- Creating a platform for coordination of issues relating to refugees, migrants and IDPS through the Commission;
- Expanding the scope of the Commission to include facilitating the management and utilization of funds from the government and donor agencies.
Sen. Ogbuoji mentioned that the Committee held a public hearing on the Bill to avail key stakeholders the opportunity to make inputs on the proposed legislation. He explained that the Bill, if passed, will address the issues of migration arising from communal conflicts, insurgency, and insecurity due to the absence of statutory frameworks to prevent evolving challenges.
However, during the clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill, most lawmakers expressed concerns over some provisions of the Bill stating that the said provisions were ambiguous and non-implementable if they were not clarified. The Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki (APC: Kwara) who chaired the session accepted the objections of lawmakers and mandated that the Committee on Special Duties carry out further legislative scrutiny of the Bill.
