President Muhammadu Buhari has refused to sign 4 Bills passed by the National Assembly into law.

The Bills are: Corporate Manslaughter Bill of 2018; the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Skill Fund Amendment Bill of 2018; N.C.P.E.A (Child Protection and Empowerment) Amendment Bill 2018 and the Courts and Tribunals Standard Scale of Fines Bill of 2017.

According to a letter read by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara at Thursday plenary, the President justified his decision to withhold presidential assents on the bill for reasons of inconsistencies.

On the Corporate Manslaughter Bill of 2018, the president adduced that the Provision of Section 39 which presumes an individual innocent until proven guilty in a competent Court of Law is contravened by the Bill, adding that it may be useful for the Bill to cover penalties to be imposed for the specific offenses.

On the second bill, the president also stated that the amount proposed in the Fund size will not be effective due to the fact that it retains the original fund size.

He also withheld his signature on the third bill due to the fact that the proposed roles were being carried out by the Ministry of Women Affairs.

On the fourth bill titled “Courts and Tribunals Standard Scale of Fines Bill of 2017”, the president stated that the proposed fines seem to be ambiguous and do not specify scales of offenses and fines as the Naira has a dynamic characteristic, hence the fixed scale may later not be practical.

• Culled from Vanguard report