The Christian Association of Nigeria has opposed the infectious disease control bill currently up for possible passage into law on the floor of the House of Representatives.
CAN conveyed its rejection of the bill in a letter to the Speaker of the house of representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila titled “PROPOSED BILL ON INFECTIOUS DISEASE CONTROL IN NIGERIA”. The letter was dated May 4th 2020 and signed by Barr. Joseph Bade Daramola.
POLITICS NIGERIA gathered that in the letter, CAN listed reasons why the bill must not be allowed to pass among which is that the bill was designed to destroy civil and human rights of Nigerians.
“It prevents Nigerians from having a say in their own affairs through the hasty and speedy way by which the house is trying to make it a law”
“Among this denial of the fundamental human rights are right to life, personal liberty, freedom from degrading and inhuman treatment, privacy, right to acquire and own property, freedom of movement and freedom of religion just to mention a few.”
“These rights are held sacred and invaluable except on clearly defined occasions as provided for by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” the letter read in part.
The religious association also described the bill as ‘nebulous and obnoxious’, adding that the bill “is not what is currently being expected from the House of Representatives but rather the development of vaccines that will stop this COVID-19 pandemic from further killing of our citizens”.
The letter continued; “In this Obnoxious bill, too much powers have been ceded to the minister of health and the director-general(DG) of the National Council of Disease Control(sic) (NCDC), almost to the exclusion of the Judiciary in mediation where the orders of the minister of health and the DG of NCDC appear to violate the fundamental human rights, as enshrined in the constitution”.
“We urge the house to discontinue discussion on the bill forthwith in the overall interest of the Nigerian citizens”. it read.
