The Director General/CEO, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Rufus Ebegba has said that the NBMA ACT 2015 is strong enough to ensure a robust biosafety system for Nigeria.
Ebegba said this at an interaction with clerks of different committees of the National Assembly today in Abuja.
He said the Act establishing the agency was not cast in stone, adding that it is a living document that needs to be tested.
The meeting was organized to give clerks, who are the engine room of the national assembly the opportunity to understand the role of NBMA in national development as well as enhance their capacity and understanding on biosafety.
He said “This interaction will help them to understand the laws of biosafety as well as to help the agency to initiate amendment of the NBMA Act when necessary.”
The DG/CEO appealed to the clerks to expedient action on the need to rid the country of unapproved GMOs and ensure that the agency is properly positioned to police any attempt to turn the country into a dumping ground for unregulated GMOs.
In his presentation, clerk of the House of Representatives committee on environment and Habitat, Mr. Eric Makwe, narrated the processes of lawmaking in Nigeria, how Acts and other laws of the federation can be amended.
According to him, clerks play vital role in the passage of bills adding that without vital information and understanding; the clerks will be handicapped when issues of biosafety surface on the floor of the assembly.
NBMA Director, Environmental Biosafety and General Release, Ms Chinyere Nzeduru, said that the role of the agency was to ensure that the practice of modern biotechnology does not pose any threat to human or the environment.
