Samoa Agreement: Representatives ask FG to suspend the implementation over same-sex allegation, NBA faults allegation

The Nigerian Bar Association has defended the endorsement of the Samoa Agreement by the Federal Government, stating that it contained no clause on same-sex marriage.

The NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), waded into the controversy, as the House of Representatives, resolving to investigate the agreement, asked the Federal Government to suspend the implementation of the agreement signed by the country on June 28, 2024, because of the pact surrounding it.

The agreement, established to strengthen the capacity of the EU and the ACP countries to address global challenges together, was named after the Pacific island nation of Samoa where it was signed on November 15, 2023, by the European Union and its member states and the African, Caribbean and Pacific 

Aiming to serve as the new legal framework for the EU relations with 79 countries, comprising 48 African, 16 Caribbean and 15 Pacific countries, it lays down common principles and covers the following six priority areas: democracy and human rights; sustainable economic growth and development; climate change human and social development; peace and security and migration and mobility.

Other areas covered in the agreement include human and social development,  access to social services, education, health, food security and improved nutrition, water, sanitation services and housing, social cohesion and protection, population and development, women development and involvement of youths in the implementation of policies affecting them.

The partnership also covered decent work, demography, culture and sustainable development, cultural diversity and mutual understanding, cultural heritage and creative sectors, mobilisation of sustainable and responsible investment, investment facilitation and protection and other critical areas.

Last week, a national daily alleged that the agreement contained a clause to legalise Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer relationships in Nigeria, adding that the government agreed to support same-sex relationships to obtain a $150bn loan.

However, at a press conference in Abuja, on Saturday, the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, and the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, stoutly refuted the allegation.

Idris threatened to drag the newspaper to court and before the Ombudsman.

Bagudu debunked that the agreement contained an LGBTQ clause, stating that the partnership with the EU seeks to resolve peculiar issues of each region based on universally accepted international laws, conventions and treaties applicable to the parties.

He said, “The partnership between Nigeria and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States dates back to the Georgetown Agreement of 1975, which brought together countries in Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific for the establishment of a framework for trade and development cooperation with the European Union as one of its objectives.

“The OACPS – EU Cotonou Agreement facilitated the commitment of about €1.7bn in grant aid alone to Nigeria through the 9th, 10th and 11th European Development Fund during the period from 2000 – 2020.

“A recent survey shows that over 5,000 water, sanitation, energy, education, health and other micro-project interventions were executed in about 4,800 communities in Nigeria throughout the Agreement.’’

However, clarifying the terms of the pact, the NBA president, in a statement, noted that the Samoa Agreement recognizes Nigeria’s Same-sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2023, insisting that it was made based on local laws.

The statement read, “In the signing of the Samoa Agreement, the Hon. Minister of Budget and Economic Planning requested the NBA, as a major stakeholder in the polity, to look at the agreement.

“Consequently, I constituted a committee chaired by Mr Olawale Fapohunda, (SAN), former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ekiti State and Chairman of the NBA Law Reform Committee, to vet, evaluate and advise on the agreement, accordingly.

“The Samoa Agreement is a broad legal framework between the European Union member states and more than half of the 79 members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States.

“It is meant to serve as a basis upon which subsequent specific agreements can be negotiated between the European Union and the Federal Government, its sub-nationals and/or the private sector.

“The agreement covers six main areas, namely: democracy and human rights, sustainable economic growth and development, climate change, human and social development, peace and security, and migration and mobility.’’

Speaking on the erroneous publication of the agreement, particularly, the purported same-sex clause, he added, ‘My attention was drawn to publications in newspapers and social media platforms, to reactions by some Nigerians to the signing of the Samoa Agreement by the Federal Government; the alleged clauses in the agreement requiring Nigeria to endorse or accept LGBTQ rights, as a pre-condition to access an alleged loan facility to the tune of $150bn.

“Contrary to the narrative being propagated, either due to ignorance of the content of the agreement or, a deliberate intention to mislead the public (neither of which is good), I wish to state that there is no provision in the Samoa Agreement which requires Nigeria to accept or in any way recognise LGBTQ or gay rights, either as a pre-condition for a loan of $150bn or at all.

“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).’’

“If this were not the case, the NBA would have since advised the Federal Government not to enter or engage in any form of partnership or agreement that can undermine the sovereignty of our nation in any way.

“For the avoidance of any doubt, the Samoa Agreement does not, in any way, seek to compromise our existing legislations nor undermine the sovereignty of Nigeria,” the statement affirmed.

Mikyau urged the stakeholders to educate the public on the true contents of the agreement