The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has said there is no provision in the SAMOA agreement that requires Nigeria to accept or in any way recognise LGBTQ or gay rights, either as a pre-condition for a loan of $150 billion or at all.
In a statement signed by the President of the Association, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yakubu Maikayau, the association disclose that instead, the agreement was expressly made subject to the local laws and the sovereignty of the contracting nations.
“That is to say, the SAMOA agreement recognises, for instance, Nigeria’s Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2023 and of course, the Supremacy of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)”.
The NBA says if this were not the case, it would have since advised the Federal Government not to enter or engage in any form of partnership or agreement that can undermine the country’s sovereignty in any way.
The association also calls on the government to continue the public enlightenment already being undertaken and on other stakeholders to join in doing so to counter the negative perception being promoted of the agreement.
It urged the public to, at all times, query newspaper and social media posts to determine the veracity of the information contained in them.