Senate adopts report on Peace Corps bill

The Senate has adopted the Conference Committee report on the Nigeria Peace Corps (Establishment) Bill, 2023.

This followed the presentation of the report by the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Interior, Sen. Seriake Dickson, during Plenary on Tuesday.

According to Dickson, both committees in the Senate and House of Representatives met and adopted the House’s version.

He said the committee recommended the House’s version, which retained the word, “Peace Corps of Nigeria” as title be so retained.

The lawmaker said the highlight of the adopted report was on clause 38 (1) of the version passed by the Senate, which was in conflict with the version passed by the House of Representatives as contained under clause 38 (1).

The Senate’s version seeks dissolution of the existing Peace Corps of Nigeria and National Unity and Peace Corps.

While the House of Representatives’ version of the bill solely recommends the dissolution of the existing Peace Corps of Nigeria to be transformed into the Nigerian Peace Corps, when assented to by President Buhari.

The Conference report clarified that for a bill to become an act of parliament in Nigeria, it must pass through the two chambers of the National Assembly.

This is a criterion, which the National Unity and Peace Corps bill could not attain because its bill was never debated unlike that of the Peace Corps of Nigeria, which was debated and passed by the two Chambers.