The Senate withdrew on the controversial bill for an Act to prohibit frivolous petitions

The withdrawal of the bill, sponsored by Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, representing Kebbi South Senatorial District, followed the presentation and consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, that worked on it.

Chairman of the Committee, Senator David Umaru who presented the report, told the Senate that his committee recommended that the bill be withdrawn.

Senator Umaru said that the committee observed that the intendment of the bill is to check the upsurge in multiple, anonymous frivolous petitions and publication in the social media, especially, since the emergence of democratic experiment in the country.

He informed the Senate that majority of stakeholders at the public hearing on the bill vehemently opposed the passage into law of the bill, as it is perceived as a step that will take the country back, especially now that the world has become a global village.

Senator Umaru also said that his committee observed that the use of the words “petitions,” “complaints,” “statements,” “investigations,” “inquiry,” and “inquest,’ in the bill are too open ended and appeared to have unwittingly extended the scope of the prohibition imposed by the bill to all complaints and reports (written or oral) made to law enforcement agencies and other government institutions that have powers to investigate or make inquiries (including internal administrative inquiries relating to staff) or inquest.