A bill to make cannabis(marijuana), lawful for commercial use was defeated in the House of Representatives.
Everyone who spoke at the bill’s second reading on Thursday, excluding the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, and the sponsors, criticized it.
The criticisms against the proposal compelled the sponsors to demand that it be stepped down for review, a prayer that the lawmakers unanimously granted.
Lagospost on Wednesday, reported that the sponsors had clashed over legislation.
Two members of the House, Benjamin Kalu and Olumide Osoba, had sponsored separate bills seeking to amend the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act to expand the scope of the anti-narcotics agency to issue licenses for the cultivation, sale, and use of marijuana.
When the bill was brought up for second reading in plenary on Wednesday, another member of the House, Miriam Onuoha, objected that the content of the bill was identical to hers.
The Cannabis Control Bill, 2020, sponsored by Onuoha, is titled: “A Bill for an Act to Regulate the Cultivation, Possession, Availability, and Trade of Cannabis for Medical and Research Use, and Related Purposes.”
The Speaker had in his ruling asked both sides to liaise with the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Abubakar Fulata, so as to identify the differences and similarities between the bills ahead of their sitting on Thursday.
On Thursday, the two bills, which had different titles, were harmonized.
While Kalu’s and Osoba’s bills had the same title, Onuoha’s was titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Decriminalise the Growth and Use of Cannabis, to Establish a System for the Registration and Licencing of Cannabis Growers, Users, Control to Legalise the Growth, Sale, and Use of Cannabis, and to Set out a Legal Framework for the Registration and Licencing of Cannabis Growers and Producers in Nigeria; and for Related Matters.’
Those who spoke against it, especially the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase, and Majority Leader, Mohammed Monguno, condemned the proposed decriminalisation of cannabis.
Gbajabiamila, who presided over the session and had defended the proposal, noted that it must have been opposed due to the word “decriminalise” in the title of the bill, which he said was not there earlier on Wednesday.
While Kalu and Onuoha were unanimous on the call for the bill’s withdrawal, the former noted that the rejection was due to the harmonisation of the bills, noting that they would be represented separately after a review.
Cannabis cultivation, sale, and use are all currently prohibited in Nigeria.
On January 7, 2021, the House proposed the legalisation of cannabis cultivation and trading, also known as hemp and marijuana, for medical and cosmetic use, research, and revenue generation in Nigeria.
