Reps want commission against arms proliferation

House of Representatives is seeking the establishment of a Special Commission to Control the Spread of Small Arms in the country, as a Bill to that effect scaled second reading on its floor yesterday.
The Bill, which was a consolidation of two separate proposals by Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje, “if enacted into law, will, among other things, cause the removal of and control of illegally acquired fi rearms, control the possession of those legally acquired, as well as create a data base for, and a recognised platform for international collaboration on the control of such arms.” Leading the debate on the general principles of the proposed legislation, Elendu-Ukeje justifi ed their call for a special commission on the matter on the basis that the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative for West Africa, at a recent briefing named Nigeria and Gambia as the only countries in the region, and or possibly in the continent without such bodies against the proliferation of arms.
“Commissions can only be created by laws and National Assembly is the only body burdened with the responsibility of creating laws for the good governance of our country….
The argument against a Presidential Committee is that is that the committee is blind to the law, and therefore does not enjoy legislative support, appropriations and budgetary provisions,” she said.
She said the Commission “if established shall promote the removal of arms through collection, storage, destruction, management and stockpiling of small arms and light weapons, control and regulate the activities local light weapons manufacturing, maintain a register of small arms and light weapons, update the register of such arms for transfer to international bodies, establish programmes to combat and eradicate the illicit trade in such arms.”