The sponsor of the Nigerian Peace Corps bill, Ali Ndume, has condemned the illegal establishment and operation of the corps by some people he did not name.
He said in Thursday’s press release that some groups have been portraying themselves as Corps officers without the president’s approval.
The Peace Corps Bill was sponsored by Mr. Ndume and has been approved by the National Assembly. The bill has been sent to President Muhammadu Buhari for approval.
The bill seeks to provide legal backing for the establishment of the Peace Corps as a government parastatal and allow its members to be absorbed into the proposed organization from the start.
Ndume, who represents Borno South, said any group claiming the property and posing as a Corps officer without the president’s approval is doing so illegally.
“The attention of the leadership of the Senate and indeed the National Assembly has been drawn to different groups calling for the bill to establish the Nigerian Peace Corps, which was harmonized and adopted by the two Houses of Assembly. National.
“It is important to say that this bill cannot be given effect until it is sanctioned as Law by the President. So any group claiming and presenting itself as the Nigerian Peace Corps is illegal for now,” he said.
Ndume also said that the Corps is under the leadership of Dickson Akoh as the national commander.
“The bill passed by both houses of the National Assembly is sponsored solely by the current Nigerian Peace Corps under the leadership of Prof. Dickson Akoh as National Commander,” he noted.
“Since the bill was transmitted to the president for approval by the Secretary of the National Assembly on April 12, 2023, the Senate has been inundated with various pleas regarding the status of the bill, especially the Organization that seeks to give. legal support after the approval of the bill by the President”.
He also said that when the bill is finally approved, the leader of the corps will be addressed as the national commander.
“Furthermore, on the question of the nomenclature of the proposed Nigerian Peace Corps headship, the title is National Commander as given in Part III, Section 11(1) of the passed bill and not Commander General as has been speculated. widely.
“However, the bill made an appropriate provision in Section 38(8) to accommodate persons, groups, associations or bodies that have shown or demonstrated interest in being absorbed as members of the Corps will be absorbed subject to training and mandatory basic orientation program of the Corps as prescribed at the beginning of this Law”.