Lawmakers to debate bill to grant, revoke licences for cannabis cultivation Thursday
Members of the House of Representatives will debate a bill on Thursday that seeks to amend the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act of 2004 to confer the authority to grant and revoke licenses for the cultivation of the Cannabis plant (or any of its three species, Cannabis Sativa, Cannabis Indicia, and Cannabis Ruderalis) for medicinal purposes.
The legislation proposed by the Honorables Benjamin Kalu and Olumide Osoba was withdrawn from Wednesday’s plenary session in order to combine it with a similar bill.
Kalu had moved for the second reading of the bill in the plenary, but Hon. Miriam Onuoha raised a point of order, notifying the Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, that she had sponsored a similar bill and that it should have been consolidated and recognized as well.
Commenting, the Honorable Nkem Abonta requested tolerance from Onuoha due to legislative time constraints.
In opposition, Representative Makki Yalleman requested that the bill be amended to accommodate Representative Onuoha’s bill.
Hassan Fulata, chairman of the Committee on Rules and Business, was of the opinion that Kalu’s bill should be prepared for a second reading, as the amendments sought by Onuoha’s bill may differ from the current bill.
Sada Soli, concurring with Fulata, noted that there are some differences between the consolidated Bill and Onuoha’s version.
Speaker Gbajabiamila clarified, however, that the subject matter appears sufficiently similar for the House to err on the side of caution.
He stated that thoroughness cannot be sacrificed on the altar of time, despite the fact that it is understandable that time is of the essence because the House has so much to accomplish in so little time.
Consequently, he ruled that the bill should be tabled so that all parties could reconcile their positions before the next legislative day.
Also during the plenary, the legislators passed through second reading a Bill for an Act to Provide for the Establishment of the National Food Safety Council and the National Food Safety Management Committee for the Official Control of Food and Feed Safety, the Obligations of Food and Feed Business Operators, and to Define the Functions and Powers of Institutions of Government to Ensure the Effective Management of Food and Feed Safety Risks.
Earlier, irate Nigerians demonstrated outside the National Assembly complex in response to the recently concluded presidential election.
The protesters, who demanded the annulment of the election, carried placards with phrases such as “Save our Democracy,” “INEC + Corruption, Politicians are killing our Democracy,” and “INEC is destroying Nigerian democracy.”
(TNT)
