The controversial Control of Infectious Diseases Bill, 2020 being
\ndebated on the floor of the House of Representatives will be put to
\npublic hearing, the Speaker has said.<\/p>\n
Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, who seemed to have bowed to public pressure,
\nstated this during Tuesday\u2019s plenary at the lower chamber of the
\nNational Assembly in Abuja.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cThe Control of Infectious Diseases Bill will be put forward to
\na public hearing where stakeholder contributions will be sought to make
\nimprovements to the bill before it is reviewed and debated by the
\nCommittee of the whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is from the accumulation of these myriad views, suggestions and good
\nfaith critiques from within and outside the House that we will arrive at
\nfinal legislation that meets the present and future needs of our
\ncountry, and which we all can support in good conscience,\u201d the speaker
\nadded.<\/p>\n
He, however, disagreed with those who condemned the timing of the bill,
\ninsisting that it was appropriate to enact such a bill at this time.<\/p>\n
The speaker also denied claims that the leadership of the House had
\nreceived $10 million to pass the bill.<\/p>\n
He decried that the allegations were weighty, and the House would take
\nlegal action.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuffice it to say that none of these allegations is true.
\nUnfortunately, we now live in a time when conspiracy theories have
\ngained such currency that genuine endeavours in the public interest can
\nquickly become mischaracterised and misconstrued to raise the spectre of
\nsinister intent and ominous possibility,\u201d Gbajabiamila said.<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cIn the recent uproar, certain fundamental truths have been
\nlost and are worth remembering.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur current framework for the prevention and management of infectious
\ndiseases is obsolete and no longer fit for purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current law severely constrains the ability of the Federal
\nGovernment of Nigeria and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)
\nto take proactive action to prevent the entry into Nigeria of infectious
\ndiseases and the management of public health emergencies when they
\noccur.\u201d<\/p>\n
The controversial Control of Infectious Diseases Bill, 2020 being debated on the floor of the House of Representatives will be put to public hearing, the Speaker has said. Mr Femi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n