Reps want controversial Samoa agreement suspended
By Motunrayo Ajala
The House of Representatives have asked the Federal Government to suspend implementation of the now controversial Samoa agreement signed with the European Council.
The agreement establishes a fresh framework for relations between the European Council, its member states and the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States’ (OACPS) members.
TheCornet reports that the agreement became contentious based on the suspicion that it contained clauses supporting LGBTQ ( an acronym for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and queer.
But, the government has consistently pushed back the allegations, stating that it wouldn’t knowingly sign an agreement that contains such preconditions.
On Tuesday, on the floor of the lower parliament, Minority Whip, Aliyu Sani Madaki (NNPP, Kano) and 87 other lawmakers pushed the motion for suspension of the details of the agreement.
The house of representatives is asking that it should first be allowed to scrutinise the agreement.
The agreement allegedly has some clauses that compel underdeveloped and developing nations to support the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community as condition for getting financial and other supports from advanced societies.
“Article 97 of the Agreement, which states that, ‘no treaty, convention, agreement or arrangement of any kind between one or more member States of European and one or more OACPS Members shall impede the implementation of this Agreement”, is supremacy Clause, and thus violates Nigeria’s sovereignty,” Madaki said.
He added: “Some other articles, especially Articles 2.5, 29.5, 36.2, and 88 in the Samoa Agreement that was signed by the federal government may be inimical to the interest of Nigeria as a country and the values of our people as a whole, more so it does not contain a Reservation Clause.”
“Article 2.5 states that parties shall systematically promote a gender perspective, and ensure that gender equality is mainstreamed across all countries.
“The phrase gender equality as reported is Trojan Horse for deceptively bringing in all sort of immorality to our country, as gender no longer means two sexes – male and female as traditionally understood, it now includes homosexuality, lesbianism, transgenderism and animalism.
“The signing of such an agreement with the aforementioned clauses, if true, violates our sovereignty and is a clear contravention of Section 124 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
“The federal government may have signed the agreement without exhaustive consultations and consideration for possible long-term consequences,” he said.
