The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has called on its members to domesticate the Child Rights Act, updated Penal Code, and Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act.
Part of the resolutions reached at the 10th COVID-19 teleconference of members of the Forum which held on Wednesday explained that this was crucial to tackle the alarming rate of rape and other forms of sexual violence in various parts of the country.
According to a communique issued at the end of the meeting, the governors decided to declare a state of emergency on sexual and gender-based violence.
They condemned violence against women and children and warned that offenders would be made to face the full wrath of the law.
The Forum stressed that the domestication of relevant gender-based protection laws would increase protection for women and children.
According to the Forum, such a step would ensure speedy investigation and prosecution of perpetrators, in addition to creating a sex offenders’ register to name and shame the culprits.
The meeting also deliberated on the public hearing on the proposed Control of Infectious Disease Bill, 2020 at the House of Representatives.
In their resolutions, the governors maintained that states should be conferred with the powers to declare any place within their territory an infected area, they also sought to make regulations and directives towards prevention and further spread of an infectious disease within the state, in addition to having the powers to establish Centres for Disease Control.
The governors, therefore, called for a review of the discretionary powers of the President and the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), as contained in the proposed bill.
They condemned some portions of the bill which they said violated the human rights of the people and highlighted the potential contraventions with the nation’s Constitution.
