Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly, Abubakar Suleiman, has pledged the assembly’s readiness to hasten passage of the Child Rights bill.

Mr Suleiman made this known at an orientation workshop organised by Plan International Nigeria for members of the House in Abuja on Thursday.

There are reports that only two states have yet to domesticate the Child Rights Act passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003.

Mr Suleiman, who promised an end to the lingering bill before the house, said the house would immediately look into the bill to ensure its passage once it converged.

He said, “We are here today for a special assignment that is aimed at passing a decision to better the lives of our children. I want to tell us that we are committed to these issues and the delay in not passing the bill has come to an end.

“I want to assure that immediately we return home, we will pass the bill into law. The first reading has been done, we will ensure we go through the second and third reading and thereafter pass the bill into law.’’

The speaker assured Plan International Nigeria and other development partners of the House readiness and commitment to projects that would see to the advancement of the people of the state.

Earlier, the Country Director, Plan International Nigeria, Charles Usie, said that the orientation was necessary to bring the new members in speed to the passage of the child rights law.

Mr Usie said Plan International Nigeria through its Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights project was providing advocacy and technical support to the state’s legislators to prepare the ground for the ratification of the child rights law.

He said, “The Child Rights Act is a law that seeks to protect the rights of children in Bauchi State. The majority of the members of the house are new, about 90 per cent of them are new and it is important that we give them an orientation.

“In the last dispensation, the bill has already gone through the first reading so new members have come in and it is right that we give them an orientation to bring them up to speed.’’

He said in May 2022, the organisation had engaged the Ministry of Women Affairs in the state on the status of the Child Protection Bill for the state, and declared interest to support the process.

He said the ministry was informed that it had already developed the first draft of the document, but would require the support of plan international to support with the validation and finalisation of the document to facilitate submission to the state assembly.

He, therefore, said that in the last quarter of 2022, Plan International supported the validation and finalisation of the document, including supporting the process of submission to the state legislators, with a pledge to continue the support until the passage of the bill into law and signed by the governor.

Meanwhile, the state Chief Magistrate, Amina Ahmed, called on the Assembly to look into the grey areas of the bill, especially as it has to do with the ‘Bauchi State Child Protection Law,’ in comparison with what obtainable at the national level.

 (NAN)