National Commandant: Peace Corps Bill Is Not Dead

The national commandant of Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN), Dickson Akoh, has debunked the insinuation that the bill seeking the establishment of the organization is dead after the decision of the House of Representatives to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto was rejected.
He disclosed this in Abuja on Monday at a press conference in reaction to media reports that the Nigeria Peace Corps Bill is dead.
“These reports are not only mischievous but highly misleading and a misrepresentation of facts. In clear terms, any discerning mind will know too that it is not the bill itself that suffered a temporary setback via the rejection; rather it is the overriding process initiated by the House of Representatives.
“Therefore, without any fear of contradiction, let me say it loud and clear that the Nigerian Peace Corps Establishment Bill is not dead as widely publicized, but still alive and on course,” he said.
He stated that the gang-up against the bill and its good intentions were misrepresented by those who could access the president, adding that it was on that account that the president withheld his assent to the bill, citing funding and security concerns.

His words: “On its volition, the House of Representatives resolved to invoke its constitutional power to override Mr. President, considering the merits of the bill and the socio-economic benefits enshrined therein for the Nigerian youth and the nation. More so against the background of the prevailing high level of insecurity heightened by alarming rate of unemployment coupled with the political exploitation's and abuses of the Nigerian youth.”
He expressed regret on the drama that played out at the lower chamber of National Assembly during the second reading and debate on the overriding process, saying it was not only a denial of Nigerian youths to have a place in the affairs of the nation, but that it had succeeded in exposing the diversity among the political elite along mundane, parochial and premeditated sentiments.
Akoh explained that Buhari would have used the bill to deliver on his electoral promises to provide massive job opportunities.
He called on officers of the corps across the country to remain calm and resolute, stating that the corps would continue to function as a legal entity having been registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) under its Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), Part C of 1990.

May 30, 2018