Peace Corps: NASS forwards Bill to President Buhari for assent

Five years after President’s initial decline, National Assembly makes last-minute effort to secure presidential assent for controversial Peace Corps Bill

By Sharon Eboesomi

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The National Assembly has forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari the harmonised version of the Bill on Nigerian Peace Corps for assent, following its passage by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Information authoritatively gathered by OrderPaper Nigeria revealed that the bill was transmitted for Presidential assent on Wednesday via a letter by the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Sani Magaji Tambuwal.

According to a credible placed source in the National Assembly, the letter written was dated April 12, 2023.

READ ALSO: NASS to transmit Peace Corps Bill to President Buhari for assent

The source also stated that three authenticated copies of the bills were sent to the President for approval, one of which is anticipated to be kept by the President and the other two being sent back to the National Assembly for further action.

According to the 1999 Constitution’s provisions, President Buhari is required to give his assent to the bill no later than May 11, 2023, meaning that the 30-day window provided for such a crucial action must have been used.

President Muhammadu Buhari had, in February 2018, withheld his assent to the Bill, citing security concerns as well as financial constraints in funding the organisation by the government as his reasons for his decision.

If the Bill is signed into law, the Nigerian Peace Corps, which has operated for many years under volunteerism, will now be a federally owned and funded agency with the name, Nigeria Peace Corps.