Former Minority Whip representing Uhunmonde/Orhionmwon federal constituency at the House of Representatives, Dr. Samson Osagie has tasked the newly elected National Assembly members to utilize their oversight functions to ensure Treaties that are of immense benefits to Nigeria are passed.
He said Treaties like the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, Double Taxation Agreements with several countries, etc are immediately domesticated so that the country can begin to derive their benefits for economic development.
Dr Osagie gave the task while speaking as one of the resource persons at the five day Induction programme organized by the National Assembly in collaboration with the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies for the newly elected Honourable Members of the House of Representatives and Senators at the International Conference Centre Abuja on the theme: “Foreign Policy and Domestication of Treaties: The Role of the National Assembly”
According to him”I urged the National Assembly to utilize their oversight functions to ensure that Treaties that are of immense benefits to Nigeria like the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, Double Taxation Agreements with several countries, etc are immediately domesticated so that the country can begin to derive their benefits for economic development”
Osagie, who was also a member and Minority Whip of the House of Representatives in the sixth and seventh National Assembly, maintained that even though issues of Foreign Policy formulation are within the domain of executive branch of government, Section 12 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(as amended) empowers the National Assembly to enact laws to incorporate Treaties already entered into by Nigeria before such Treaties can become enforceable in Nigeria.
Truth Live News reports that Dr Samson Osagie is the Chairman of the African Bar Association and an Adjunct Lecturer at the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies, Abuja Nigeria