The stage was set on Sunday night for the resumption of legislative works on the bill seeking to establish Amotekun Corps in the six Southwest states.
Lawmakers in Osun, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Ondo states will be finalising the process beginning from today.
Speakers and Attorneys-Generals of the states met in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, where they made observations, suggestions and cleared conflicting areas identified during the public hearings conducted by the states last week Monday.
They did a clause-by-clause deliberation on the issues raised at the public hearings that held simultaneously in the states.
At the meeting were Speakers Adebo Ogundoyin (Oyo), Timothy Owoeye (Osun), Bamidele David Oleyelogun (Ondo), Mudashiru Obasa (Lagos), Funminiyi Afuye (Ekiti) and Olakunle Oluomo (Ogun).
The speakers adopted a uniform law for the security outfit to ensure uniformity and ease of regional cooperation on training, equipment and intelligence sharing.
It was learnt on Sunday that the Oyo State House of Assembly will tomorrow (Tuesday) pass into law the bill backing the establishment of the Oyo State Amotekun Corps.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Kazeem Olayanju, told Our Reporter that the bill, which has passed through Second Reading, will be passed into law at tomorrow’s plenary.
A source in the Assembly revealed that the request by Miyetti Allah to have its members recruited into the outfit was not accommodated in the bill to be passed.
The group made up of herdsmen, had during the public hearing requested that its members be recruited along with others into the security outfit.
The request was contained in its memorandum to the public hearing committee in Ibadan, the state capital last week.
In Lagos, the Tunde Braimoh-led Committee on Information, Strategy and Security of the Lagos State House of Assembly will tomorrow present its report on the proposed amendment to the Neighbourhood Safety Corp Agency Law 2019 at plenary.
The law is being amended to create Amotekun Corps in line with the region’s effort to tackle rising crime waves such as kidnapping for ransom, killings, robbery and banditry.
The House suspended its recess two weeks ago to consider an executive bill sent to it.
Information revealed that the House is resuming plenary tomorrow at 12noon.
According to the notice sent out to lawmakers and legislative staff, the bill will be laid and presented by the committee.
The notice reads: “At the plenary, the House shall consider laying and presentation of report on a bill for a law to amend the Neighborhood Safety Corps Agency Bill, 2020.”
Also in Akure, the Ondo State House of Assembly will tomorrow pass the Amotekun Corps’ Bill.
According to the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Gbenga Omole, the lawmakers had done what was required by organising a public hearing after cutting short their recess last week.
Omole said the lawmakers are ready to pass the bill tomorrow like their counterparts in other Southwest states.
The bill on the Osun State Security Network and Amotekun Corps will be passed into law on or before Wednesday, Speaker Timothy Owoeye told The Nation on Sunday night.
He told our reporter that he and his colleagues will resume legislative work on the constitution of the bill from today.
Owoeye said: “From tomorrow (today), we will start considering the suggestions and recommendations of individuals and groups from the public hearing. By Wednesday latest, we will pass the bill and send to the governor for his assent.
Barring the unforeseen, the Amotekun Bill will be passed by the Ogun State House of Assembly tomorrow, Speaker Kunle Oluomo assured last night.
In a telephone chat with The Nation, Oluomo said: “The bill having concluded the public hearing on the bill a week ago, and the document went through reconciliation and harmonisation in Ibadan by all the Southwest Speakers, Majority Leaders and attorneys-general among others, it was resolved that each state Assembly should pass the Bill into law on Tuesday (tomorrow).
He added: “When it is eventually passed by the Assembly and eventually signed into law by the Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, the bill would be translated into indigenous languages for easy understanding so that essence of it will be felt by all even in a remote area of the state.
The speaker reiterated the bill’s importance to protect the overall wellbeing of residents and investors in the state, emphasising that intelligence gathering remained the fulcrum of any effective security outfit.