South-West assemblies to hold public hearings on Amotekun bill

The Houses of Assembly in the six South- West states will on Monday , February 24 , hold separate public hearings on a bill to back the South-West joint security outfit , Operation Amotekun.
The public hearings date on the Amotekun bill was fixed at a meeting of the Speakers of the Houses of Assembly in the six states held in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State , on Friday, February 14 .
The advertorial signed by the Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of South- West State Legislatures, Bamidele Oleyelogun, said, “After an exhaustive deliberation , the conference resolved that, as a matter of urgency , all the State Houses of Assembly should commence action on the process of passage of the (Amotekun) bill into law.
“The conference , also in this regard , mandated all the State Houses of Assembly to simultaneously hold public hearings on the bill in their respective states on Monday , 24 th February 2020 .
“The Conference of Speakers of South- West Legislatures urges all the people of the South- West to attend and make meaningful contributions to the bill that regulates the protection of lives and property in our states .”
The advertorial noted that after the public hearings , the six speakers would reconvene and meet with Attorneys General from the states “to address all conflicting areas and to review the contents of the reports generated at the public hearing for harmonisation into the proposed law ”.
While the conference of the South-West speakers said a public hearing on the proposed law would hold on Monday , the status of the bill differed in the six South- West states .
Ekiti Assembly passes bill , awaits gov’ s assent
Meanwhile, the Ekiti State House of Assembly had passed the bill on Friday.
The Ekiti State Commissioner for Information , Muyiwa Olumilua, in an interview with The PUNCH , said the State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi , would soon sign the Amotekun bill into law
Olumilua said the governor ’ s assent , which was the final approval for the proposed law, would be expressed very soon , the bill having been passed by the state House of Assembly .
Bill scales first reading in Osun Assembly
But the Osun State House of Assembly on Monday commenced work on the Amotekun bill . Speaking at the plenary he presided over , the Speaker , Timothy Owoeye , told the lawmakers that Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, had written to the parliament to present the bill .