Politics
FEMI Gbajabiamila, Speaker of House of Representatives, has explained why he plagiarised the Singaporean law to draft the Infectious Disease Bill submitted to the legislators to consider.
Gbajabiamila, represented by Dubem Okadigbo Moghalu, his special assistant, Research and Public Policy, told a Zoom meeting organised by Elombah Communications/Njenje Media Limited, that plagiarism is not known in legislative drafting, adding that the allegation of plagiarism was intended only to raise certain passion.
At the Zoom meeting entitled: “Covid-19 and the proposed Vaccination Bill: Implications for Nigeria” Gbajabiamila explained that when you want to achieve a particular objective through passage of an Act of Parliament, it is a common norm and practice to look for another jurisdiction that has achieved what you intend to achieve.
He said: “I need it to be clear for those who are on this platform that at the moment the Language of plagiarism that has been used in relation to this bill is simply incendiary and it is intended only to arise certain passion.
“Plagiarism is not known in legislative drafting. When you want to achieve a particular objective, the first thing you will need to do is to ask yourself is there any other jurisdiction that has achieved what you intend to achieve. If yes, the next thing is: how did they achieve it in the written text?
“And you will take that written text and take it as a foundation for developing your own legislation and you will make whatever improvement you need to make so that it will be more suitable to your local context. We are taking what was done in Singapore as foundation for our work and improve and amend it to an extent that will be suited to our local context. It is important to know that there is nothing we have done in thus bill that is not based on existing law in Nigeria.”
Gbajabiamila explained that the content of the bill was not alien to the practices in Nigeria, adding: “We have simply sought to build on what is already in existence to achieve a particular objective of strengthening our health work and the management of our public health. A lot of contentious provisions that people are worried about only apply to our public health emergency.”
– May 12, 2020 @ 10:45 GMT |
Tags: Why we plagiarised Singaporean Infectious Disease Bill – Gbajabiamila
