There was a heated debate on the floor of the Senate, on Tuesday, during the plenary session.
The subject of discord was the Bill for an Act to Regulate the Slaughter of Donkeys and Ranching of Donkeys through the Export Certification Value Chain to Mitigate the Extinction of Donkeys, 2021.
It was sponsored by Senate Leader,Yahaya Abubakar Abdullahi.
In a copy of the Lead Debate, sighted by Tribune Online, the Senator representing Kebbi North said there was no coordinated programme to curtail the extinction of the donkey population in the country and argued that the animal has since become an endangered species as a result of indiscriminate slaughtering for the purpose of harvesting its skin.
Senator Abdullahi further submitted that if passed into law, the Bill would prevent the indiscriminate slaughter of donkeys and encourage the breeding and ranching of donkeys to ensure the restocking of the National donkey herd, eventually increasing the donkey population and eliminating extinction of donkeys.
Before he could make his Lead Debate, Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe however raised a Constitutional Order.
Senator Abaribe argued that donkey, animal husbandry and Livestocks were neither in the Exclusive nor Concurrent List in the 1999 Constitution.
He noted that such were within the residual list for State Assemblies and Local councils to legislate on.
He said: ” Section 4(4a) of the constitution says The National Assembly shall legislate on: any matter in the Concurrent Legislative List set out in the first column of Part II of the Second Schedule to this Constitution to the extent prescribed in the second column opposite thereto
“Part 17-20 of the Second Schedule
17. The National Assembly may make laws for the Federation or any part thereof with respect to
(a.) the health, safety and welfare of persons employed to work in factories, offices or other premises or in inter-State transportation and commerce including the training, supervision and qualification of such persons; (b) the regulation of ownership and control of business enterprises throughout the Federation for the purpose of promoting, encouraging or facilitating such ownership and control by citizens of Nigeria;
“( C) the establishment of research centres for agricultural studies; and
(d) , the establishment of institutions and bodies for the promotion or financing of industrial, commercial or agricultural projects.
“Section 18 of the Constitution states “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a House of Assembly may make laws for that state with respect to the industrial, commercial or agricultural development of the state.
“We are to make laws exclusively based on what is determined in the constitution…livestock and matters of that nature are not expressly provided for in the list. I so submit.”
Senator representing Niger North, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi however claimed the Senate could legislate on donkeys since the Constitution empowers it to conduct research on Agriculture.
“In the same constitution, the federal government is given the right to research. This is research work. And this bill is based on that…when you don’t want something to go into extinction.
“We are talking about conservation management. Some people have suddenly realised the value of the skin of donkeys and the population of donkeys in the North. The point is, we have done studies in Gombe State where we have people coming from Akwa Ibom to buy them. And we have seen that there is a value chain.”
Senator representing Osun Central, Ajibola Basiru however aligned himself with the submission of Minority Leader.
He said: For record proposes, the fact that a matter is deemed necessary, does not automatically confer on the federal legislative act and legislative competence.
“Section 1(3) is clear. That any law contrary to the provision of the constitution is to the extent of that inconsistency is null and void. The basis of our existence and power is the constitution.
“I align with the Minority Leader that we should not legislate on the subject matter presented to us by the bill in line with provisions of the 1999 Constitution,” he said.
The bill, however, scaled second reading as President of the Senate in his intervention ruled Abaribe out of order.
“It is not for commercial purposes but to prevent extinction. I feel that we can legislate on it.
“Economically, it is needed not in terms of selling it but in terms of keeping the environment balanced.
I rule that we can go ahead and consider the bill.”
Senator representing Ondo North, Ajayi Boroffice and former governor of Kebbi State and Senator representing Kebbi central, Adamu Aliero spoke in support of the Bill.
Senate later mandated its Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources for more legislative inputs on the bill and report back in two weeks.
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