As Nigeria marks the World Tobacco Day today, the National
Tobacco Bill which was passed to law by the sixth Senate on March 9,
2011 has developed wings as reports said the bill was missing on the
table of President Goodluck Jonathan.
This was the conclusion of stakeholders who met at a round
table conference organised by the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends
of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FOFN) in Lagos on the implementation of the
National Tobacco Control Bill.
Director Corporate Accountability and Administration in ERA/FOFN, Mr.
Oluwafemi Akinbode, lamented that despite the fact that the bill was
passed to law about 13 months ago, the president refused to append his
signature for it to become law.
According to him, all efforts to know the whereabouts of the bill in
the president’s office proved abortive and all those who should know its
whereabouts claimed ignorance.
“The information at our disposal indicates that the bill has
completed its circle at the National Assembly and has been forwarded to
the office of the Presidential Liaison Officer in the National Assembly,
Senator Joy Emordi. We are expecting that the bill should be sent to
the desk of the President,” he said.
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