Controversial Grazing Bill reappears in Senate

After an initial deni­al, the controver­sial National Graz­ing Reserves Bill on Wednesday reappeared in the Senate and sailed through the first reading.

The Bill seeks to estab­lish grazing reserves for Fula­ni herdsmen across the country.

The proposed law is spon­sored by Rabiu Kwankwaso, who represents Kano Central Senatorial District while its ver­sion in the House of Represent­atives is being pushed by Hon. Sunday Karim from Kogi State

The Bill, which formed part of bills introduced in the Senate Order Paper of yesterday, was introduced by the Minority Sen­ate Leader, Senator Ibn Na’Allah and scaled the first reading. 

 Similarly a second bill on the establishment of Grazing Ranches also passed the first reading.

There are indications that the two bills may be collapsed into one or treated separately when they appear for second reading. The Lower House had in March passed the bill for second reading.

Before its reappearance in the Upper Chamber on Wednesday, the Senate had denied ever receiving such a document.

As the bill passed its first reading, the exercise did not go without the contribution of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia State), who said it was “dead on arrival”.

In April, Abaribe had kicked against the bill and sought to confirm whether it was indeed before the Senate. He had told the Senate that he was inundated with calls from his constituents on the status of the bill.

The Senate President, Bu­kola Saraki, had told him then that there was no such bill be­fore the Upper Chamber.

Prominent Nigerians, espe­cially governors and clergymen from the Southern part of the country and the North Cen­tral zone, have kicked against the bill.

In fact, Enugu State Gov­ernor, Dr Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and his Benue State counter­part, Mr. Samuel Ortom, have repeatedly kicked against the bill, declaring that their states have no land to donate for the proposed ranches.

Following the growing op­position to the Federal Govern­ment’s plan to set up ranches across the nation, the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, on Tuesday said that the Mu­hammadu Buhari-led adminis­tration will not seize lands from any state to set up the ranches.