The bill known as “National Health Emergency Bill” was introduced in the Nigerian senate on May 5. The bill, sponsored by Senator Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu North), Chair of the Senate Committee on Communicable Diseases and Primary Healthcare, passed its first reading on Tuesday.
Former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, demanded a gazetted copy of the Bill, emphasizing the controversies it had sparked in the House of Representatives.
“I rely on Order 41 of the Senate Standing Rule. As a senator, I am entitled to know the details of this Bill. We want to have copies of the gazetted copies. There is controversy over the same Bill in the House of Representatives. We don’t want to have the same issue here. We need to be guided to avoid any backlash. I need to read it and prepare ahead of time.”
The Secretariat of the Senate was instructed by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to provide copies of the Bill to all Senators before its second reading next week.
“The copies are ready and everybody will get a copy. We are not taking the second reading immediately. That will be done next week. So, members will have the time to read the contents of the Bill.”