THE
debate on the controversial bills for the establishment of Grazing
Areas Management Agency and another for the establishment of National
Ranches Commission was aborted in the Senate yesterday.
The bills – “A Bill for an Act to
provide for the establishment of Grazing Areas Management Agency and for
other related Matters, 2016 sponsored by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
(Kano Central); A Bill for an Act to provide for the establishment of
National Ranches Commission for the regulation, management, preservation
and control of ranches and for connected purposes, 2026 proposed by
Senator Barnabas Gemade (Benue North East) and A Bill for an Act to
control the keeping and movement of cattle and related matters thereto,
2016 sponsored by Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu North) – were withdrawn due to
disagreement on the way forward.
Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike
Ekweremadu, told his colleagues that the upper legislative chamber
lacked the power to legislate on livestock matters.
Ekweremadu said the states were better
suited, according to constitutional provisions to deal with the issues
raised in the bills since the issues were residual matters.
He said: “The issues at stake here are
neither in the Exclusive List nor in the Concurrent List. I believe
therefore it is a Residual matter; it is for states to decide how to
deal with it.
”I believe the matter here concerns
everybody given the level of carnage and the conflicts going on in
different states. So, I feel the concern of my colleagues, but
unfortunately, we do not have power to legislate on matters relating to
livestock in this Assembly.
”It is a matter reserved for the
states. So, I believe that the bills by Kwankwaso, Gemade and Utazi are
beyond the reach of this National Assembly and should be accordingly
withdrawn so that the states under the constitution should be able to
deal with the matters which the constitution has prescribe for them.”
Ekweremadu quoted copiously from the constitution to buttress his position.
Senate Leader Mohammed Ali Ndume, in his contribution, said Ekweremadu raised fundamental issues that should not be ignored.
Ndume added that there was no point the
Senate wasting its time debating the Bills if it lacked power to
legislate on the matter.
Gemade, who spoke on the consolidation
of the bills, noted that though the three bills seemed to deal with the
same subject matter, the fundamentals of the bills were different.
Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki seemed not to be comfortable with the trend of debate on the bills.
He said since the understanding that the bills would be consolidated could not sail through, the bills should be stepped down.
He noted that the only reason bills were captured in the Order Paper was on the understanding that they would be consolidated.
After Saraki’s suggestion, Ndume promptly moved that the bills be stepped down.
The motion was adopted.
Culled from Nation
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