The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) says it would have advised the federal government not to sign the Samoa Agreement if it included LGBTQ+ provisions.
The NBA disclosed that it was one of the stakeholders that the federal government invited to review the Samoa Agreement before it was signed.
Via a statement released on Monday and signed by Yakubu Maikyau, the NBA president, the legal body stated that a committee headed by Olawale Fapohunda, a former attorney-general of Ekiti, was instituted to scrutinize and advise the federal government on the pact.
In recent time, some reports claimed that the Samoa Agreement encompass provisions that command countries to endorse same-sex relationships and LGBTQ+ rights.
The Nigerian government, however, denied the claim, stressing that it signed the agreement strictly for the economic development of the nation.
The FG also said that there is nowhere in the agreement where LGBTQ+ or same-sex marriage was stated.
In accordance to the European Council, the Samoa Agreement is the encompassing structure for European Union (EU) relations with African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries.
The pact was signed on November 15, 2023, and took effect on January 1, 2024, to serve as a new legal foundation for EU relations with 79 countries collectively establishing the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS).
The NBA then stated that the Samoa Agreement recognises Nigeria’s same-sex marriage prohibition law and the supremacy of the 1999 Constitution.
“That is to say, the SAMOA agreement recognises, for instance, Nigeria’s Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2013 and of course, the supremacy of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended),” the statement reads.
“If this were not the case, the NBA would have since advised the Federal Government not to enter or engage in any form of partnership or agreement that has the ability to undermine the sovereignty of our nation in any way.
“For the avoidance of any doubt, the SAMOA agreement does not, in any way, seek to compromise our existing legislations nor undermine the sovereignty of Nigeria.”