By Usman Ibn A. Lapai
Kaduna
Kaduna State House of Assembly has begun its public hearing on seven Bills which include administration of criminal justice, Penal Code and child rights Act.
Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Aminu Abdullahi Shagali, who made this known during the sitting of the House said the public will be able to comment on the bills and others during the hearing such as State Peace Commission, Planning and Budget Commission, Free Medical Examination before marriage and the Kidnap (Prohibition) Amendment Bill.
He said the Joint Committee on Bills held various meetings at committee levels where adequate contacts were made and copies of the affected Bills were sent to Government Agencies, individuals, Corporate Organisations, Religious based Organisations, Security Agencies and Development Partners before arriving at the conclusion of conducting public hearing.
Also the Joint Committee received the support of Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), a UK/ DFID programme in Kaduna state where a two-day retreat was organised for both members and support staff of the State House of Assembly to understand the Bills better.
“With this tremendous effort by the Joint Committee on Bills under the Chairmanship of Hon Barr. Kantiok Irmiya Ishaku, I urge all the various stakeholders and participants to be objective and offer your contributions on each bill, step by step as it had been arranged.
“I assure you all that your views, comments, contributions, observations, and suggestions both oral and written will be respected and the same will be utilised along with other aspect in accordance with legislative practice and procedure to produce final documents for implementation.”
Coalition of Civil Society Organisation working on children and related issues made their contributions saying, “the bill is generally too bulky for the average person to comprehend and use on a daily basis” and, therefore, recommended that it should be condensed.
