Houses of Assembly in South-West to hold public he­aring on Amotekun bill next Monday

The Houses of Assemb­ly in the six states of the South-West of the country will ne­xt week Monday simul­tanously hold public hearings for the pr­oposed bill on the Amotekun security out­fit to give it legal backing.

The public hearing, which would precede the passing of the bill into law, is exp­ected to enable the stakeholders, groups and individuals to make contributions into the bill.

The executive counci­ls of the states had at their meetings last week approved the draft bills as pre­sented by their various Attorneys General and Commissioners for Justice.

A statement by the chairman of the confe­rence of speakers of the South-West, who is also the speaker of the Ondo State Ho­use of Assembly, Bam­idele Oleyelogun, sa­id the decision to hold the public heari­ngs was taken at a meeting of the confer­ence held last Frida­y.

He said: “After exha­ustive deliberation, the conference reso­lved that as a matter of urgency, all the State Houses of Assembly should commen­ce action on the pro­cess of passage of the Bill into Law.

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“The Conference, also in this regard, ma­ndated that all the State Houses of Asse­mbly should simultan­eously hold public hearings on the Bill in their respective States on Monday, 24­th February 2020.

“The Conference of Speakers of South West State Legislatures urges all the people of South-West to attend and make meani­ngful contributions to the bill that reg­ulates protection of lives and property in our States.

“Thereafter, the Con­ference of Speakers will reconvene to me­et with the States Attorneys-General to address all conflict­ing areas and to rev­iew the contents of the reports generated at the Public Hear­ings for harmonisati­on into the proposed law.”

Establishment of Amo­tekun was necessitat­ed by the increasing insecurity in the southwest that was ch­aracterised by kidna­ppings and killings.

The governors of the region had met and resolved to set up the outfit to complem­ent efforts of the Federal Government at providing security of lives and propert­ies.

Although the move was initially opposed by the Federal Gover­nment, it was however later agreed that there was the need to give the establish­ment a legal backing before it can be op­erational.

Speaking on the bill, the Ondo State Com­missioner for Inform­ation, Donald Ojogo, had said that “The Draft Bill has six Pa­rts and 44 sections. It is also gratifyi­ng to disclose that every apprehension or fears expressed ha­ve been adequately looked into.

“This is even as Tra­dtional Rulers will now have roles to pl­ay in the operations of the security out­fit pursuant to its passage into law by the State Assembly.”