The Control of infectious disease Bill sponsored by the Speaker of the lower house of parliament in Nigeria, Femi Gbajabimiala is on the verge of being passed into law. The Bill is meant to repeal the Quarantine Act and enact the Control of Infectious Diseases Act, giving way for a new set of legislation that will empower the NCDC to manage the coronavirus pandemic and any infectious disease. While this appears to be a progressive move, critics have raised concerns that the content of this bill could be open to abuse by state officials.
Why this Matters in Nigeria
The foremost concerns raised were that no thought went into creating this piece of legislation as it has been shown to have been copied almost word for word from the Singaporean Infectious Disease Act of 1977.
Further analysis of this bill shows that it gives sweeping powers to the director-general of Nigeria’s Center for Disease Control (NCDC). According to the Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, Clement Nwankwo, “A new law is needed but the powers are too sweeping. There are a lot of powers in the bill which could be used for political purposes.”
This piece of legislation if approved will amongst other things, allow the Minister of Health to convert any building into an isolation area. We see this in section 15 of the Act.
The Act will “require any person to provide any book, document, correspondence or information requested by the DG” and can “at any time without a warrant and with such force as may be necessary, stop, board, enter, inspect and search any premises or conveyance;”
The Act also allows the police in Nigeria to arrest anybody suffering from an infectious disease, without a warrant, we see this in section 23. The Act, however, did not make any provision for how they will determine that arrested persons have any such infections.
The “Powers of Arrest” section gives even more power to law enforcement and health officers as they may “…arrest without warrant any person committing or who he has reason to believe has committed any offence under this Act.” Furthermore, neither the NCDC DG, the health minister of Nigeria, or the law enforcement officers will be held liable for their actions while executing this Act.
Speaking to journalists during the Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19 last week, the current NCDC DG, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu said: “To be honest I saw the bill just like everyone else, circulating on social media. I take it in a good way. I think the members of the House of Reps and everybody is concerned about the situation and what we have found ourselves in. I take it positively but the bill requires more consultation. I’m personally not in favour of drafting a bill in the middle of a crisis. I think we need to get over the crisis and use the momentum to engage with all stakeholders to come up with a bill that will really serve this country.”
The bill ascended both first and second reading in one day, on the 28th of April 2020. So far, up to 35 CSOs in Nigeria have come together to reject the bill.
This story is part of our new series on Nigeria where we analyse electoral reform in the country ahead of the next general elections in 2023.
