Nationnewslead reports that The sponsor of the anti-open grazing bill in the Senate, Kola Balogun, has said the much-awaited proposed legislation would soon come up for first reading at the red chamber.
Balogun, a Peoples Democratic Party member representing Oyo South Senatorial District, who confirmed this to our correspondent on Wednesday, however, withheld details of the bill.
He said, “The bill will come up for first reading soon. We are seriously working on it.”
When asked to give details of the proposed law, the senator said, “No, I cannot give you the details now. Wait until it comes up for second reading. You will have it then.”
Nationnewslead had reported in February that senators from the Southern and Middle Belt areas of Nigeria, had started mobilising their colleagues from the core northern areas of the country to support the yet-to-be-introduced new Senate anti-open grazing bill
Findings by our correspondent had shown that a principal officer of the upper chamber was coordinating support for the bill being sponsored by Balogun.
The Senate had last month passed a resolution, urging the state governments to implement the National Livestock Transformation Plan.
The red chamber described the project as “a modern scheme designed to eliminate trans-humans movement in order to prevent farmer-herder conflict and activate the highly productive livestock sector in Nigeria.”
The senator representing Benue South, Abba Moro, who is a former Minister of Interior, had also confirmed to our correspondent in an interview last month that the sponsor of the anti-open grazing bill had sought his support.
He promised to do everything possible to give the proposed legislation all the necessary input to ensure that it was signed into law.
Moro said, “I can tell you with authority that one of my colleagues is sponsoring a bill on anti-grazing. I have assured him that I will support him and I will lend my voice to his bill.”
Similarly, the senator representing Osun East, Francis Fadahunsi, in an interview with our correspondent in February, confirmed that the bill was already in the Senate.
He said, “The anti-grazing bill is already in the Senate and I am fully in support of it. The foreign herdsmen are in Nigeria to cause mayhem, so the only alternative is to stop their free movement through the proposed law.”
The senator representing Cross River South, Gershon Bassey, in an interview with our correspondent last month, also confirmed that the bill would soon be introduced to the Senate.
Bassey also said the legislation needed support to end the herder-farmer clashes.
He, however, emphasised widespread consultations to make it enjoy the support of every Senator in the chamber.
He said, “The bill is already in the Senate but we have a process. Just because a bill comes in doesn’t mean it will be passed the same way it is presented. I don’t want to make further comments on it until the process has run its course.
“There have to be widespread consultations before we can reach something that is agreeable to everybody.”
Lending his support to the bill, the senator representing Ogun West, Tolu Odebiyi, also said there was the need for a total ban on open grazing,
Odebiyi argued that it would prevent incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen.
He said, “I completely support a total ban on open grazing and its replacement with the ranching system, which is a modern practice all over the world. We have a national crisis on our hands. It is a national crisis that has been devoid of leadership politically and morally.”
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