Enugu begins enactment of anti-open grazing Bill

A bill to ban open grazing in Enugu State, yesterday, passed the first reading at the House of Assembly.

The Southern Governors’ Forum had recently given September deadline for every member state to give legal backing to the ban.

Leader of the Enugu Assembly, Ikechukwu Ezeugwu, who presented the bill, said it was for the security of lives and property in the state.

Citing relevant sections of the House Order, the lawmaker, who represents Udenu Constituency, assured the bill would pass through all the procedures of lawmaking, including the public hearing stage.

He, however, warned the media and the public against politicising the legislation, which, according to him, was only presented and has not been deliberated by the lawmakers.

He warned that politicising the bill would truncate the peace being enjoyed by the residents of the state.

“We have not said anything about the bill, you (journalists) don’t know the content of the bill and we don’t know what will be the end-product of the bill. During the public hearing, anybody that is interested in the bill should come and make his or her input to guide us in passing it. We need peace in Enugu and we need peace in Nigeria.”

Speaker Edward Ubosi urged his colleagues to go through the bill, in order to make contributions to the legislation that would boost security in the state.

Some states in the South-East zone, including Abia and Ebonyi have already passed the anti-open grazing bill.