Funmi Lawrence
Mr Ike Onyechere, Founding Chairman, Exam Ethics Marshals International (EEMI) says about 26,373 parents, staff, students and other concerned stakeholders have signed the petition to Nigeria’s House of Representatives for quick concurrence to passage of Sex-for-Grade.
Onyechere made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said that this would fast track action on granting concurrence to the Sexual Harassment Prohibition Bill passed by the Senate on 7th July 2020.
He added that the bill titled “A Bill for an Act to Prevent, Prohibit and Redress Sexual Harassment of Students in Tertiary Educational Institutions and for other Matters Concerned Therewith, 2019” had already been forwarded to the Lower House for Concurrence by the Senate.
“This is not the first time the Senate will pass and forward the Bill to the Lower House for concurrence. The Bill was first passed and forwarded to the House in 2016.
“The House then declined to grant concurrence and allowed the Bill to languish and expire with the 8th National Assembly.
“The Bill was re-introduced in the 9th Assembly in October 2019.The passing of the Bill by the Senate on 7th July 2020 is only the first of three stages the Bill must pass through to become law.”
According to him, the second stage is concurrence by the Lower House while the third and final stage is for President Muhammadu Buhari to grant his ascent to make the Bill a Law.
“Whether or not the bill will be successfully passed into law has turned into a battle of wits between parents, students, educators, legislators, leaders, and citizens of conscience on one side against sexual predators masquerading as lecturers.
“It is in a bid to ensure that the enactment of the bill into law is not truncated again at any stage,” he said.
He therefore said that the organisation on November 1, 2019, launched the campaign to mobilise stakeholders of conscience to sign the on-line petition for Nigeria’s 9th National Assembly to fast-track action on passage of Sexual Harassment Law.
He added that 26,373 citizens had so far signed the petition adding that the focus was for the House of Representatives to grant quick concurrence to the bill.
