The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress,Chief Odigie Oyegun has presented prototype bills on three key issues to Attorneys General and commissioners of Justice of APC states.
Oyegun who was represented by ex Governor Segun Oni, commended the Progressive Governors Forum,PGF secretariat led by Salihu Mohammed Lukman for coming out with the laudable prototype bills.The event took place at Chelsea Hotel in Abuja, Thursday
The prototype bills include the Compulsory ,Free Universal Education Bill;The Administration and Collection of Revenue Bill and the State Security Bill.
Those present at the event were attorneys -general from APC states, some speakers and legal luminaries among other.Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum ,(PGF) and Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha was represented b y his deputy, Mr Eze Madumere.
Newsdiaryonline reports that the prototype Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Bill states inter alia: “without prejudice to the provisions of item 30 of part 11 of the second schedule and item 2(a) of the fourth schedule to the 1999 Constitution dealing with primary school education, the State Government’s intervention under this law shall only be an assistance to the Local Governments in the State for the purposes of uniform and qualitative basic education”
“The state government shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and Junior secondary school age.
“Every parent shall ensure that his child or ward attends and completes his primary school education and junior secondary school education, by endeavoring to send the child to primary and junior secondary schools
“The stakeholders in education in a local government area shall ensure that every parent or person who has the care and custody of a child performs this duty on him under section 2(2) of this law.
“The state government shall set up a committee to mobilise and sensitive parents on the investment of this law.
While addressing journalists at a press briefing on Friday, Imo State Deputy Governor who stood in for Okorocha shed more light on the presentation of the prototype bills to the Attorneys Generals of all APC states.
He said “The objective of inviting them is to take all the necessary steps to domesticate the bills in our states taking into account the entire local factors and peculiarities.
“The presentation is part of continuing efforts by the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) at ensuring that policy initiatives of APC states are sustainable and to facilitate the institutionalization of common legal frameworks for adoption and subsequent implementation through legislation across the APC states.\
He proceeded to outline the principles behind the three prototype bill..On the Free universal education bill, he said, it “addresses issues of refusal to send pupils to school,charging fees and levies in public schools,membership of universal basic education commission,financing of the universal basic education,qualification to access funding etc”
Madumere who spoke at the PGF secretariat in Abuja added that “ Each Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice is expected to turn these Prototype Bills into an Executive Bill for onward transmission to the Houses of Assembly of our states for passage into law.”
