Same S*x Marriage Bill: CAN faults Senate’s invitation

UMBRELLA body of Christians in Nigeria, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has dissociated itself from a purported invitation by the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters over two bills on Transfer of convicted Offenders and Same S*x Marriage which are before the National Assembly.

The Senate Committee headed by Senator Umaru Dahiru, in a newspaper publication, had thrown an open invitation to 12 institutions/stakeholders including the CAN to submit 15 hard copies and one softcopy of memoranda to the secretariat of the committee in Room 2.4 second floor, Senate wing, on or before Friday, October 28, 2011. The invitation was published in a national newspaper on Thursday, October 27, 2011.

The Committee was scheduled to hold a public hearing on the two bills before the National Assembly; “A Bill for the Act to Transfer convicted offenders, 2011 (SB. 26)” and “Same S*x Marriage (Prohibition) Solemnization Bill 2011 (SB. 05)” on Monday, October 31, 2011 at 10.00 a.m..

In a letter addressed to the Committee chairman dated October 28, 2011, Acting General Secretary/National Legal Adviser, CAN, Elder Albert Uko faulted the invitation on four grounds.

According to the letter, “in as much as we appreciate this gesture, we are constrained to observe as follows: No formal letter was communicated to us as stakeholders on this matter before now. Our source of information is the newspaper publication above referred, which we consider improper in this circumstance.

“The one-day period given in the publication for us to submit a memorandum on the two Bills being considered by the Senate is extremely too short for any meaningful presentation by CAN.”

“Similarly, due to the short notice, the president of CAN and other church leaders have not been able to meet and discuss the proposed Bills in order to arrive at a definite position. It will therefore be proper for your Committee to officially send us a draft copy of each of the two Bills being considered, and thereafter grant us a reasonable extension of time within which to submit our memorandum.”

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