MPs instruct the federal government to suspend implementation of the Samoa Agreement

July 9 (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives has directed the Federal Government to suspend the implementation of the Samoa Agreement until all contentious clauses have been addressed and clarified.

This was in response to a motion of urgent national importance, supported by 88 members and tabled in plenary on Tuesday.

Aliyu Madaki, a member of the House of Representatives, introduced the motion on behalf of the initiators. He drew attention to the clause emphasizing “gender equality,” calling it a Trojan horse that could violate the country’s morals.

The House of Representatives also instructed its relevant committees to investigate the controversial provisions of the agreement.

Nigeria signed the Samoa Agreement on 28 June 2024 at the Secretariat of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) in Brussels, Belgium. The partnership agreement is between the EU and its Member States on the one hand and the members of the OACPS on the other.

Earlier, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said that in negotiating the agreement, Nigerian officials strictly followed the mandates exchanged between the EU and the OACPS for the process in 2018. He assured Nigerians that the administration of President Bola Tinubu, as a rules-based government, would not enter into international agreements that would harm the interests of the country and its citizens.