BUHARI’S REJECTION OF PEACE CORPS BILL IS CONSPIRACY AGAINST NIGERIAN YOUTH, SAYS CORPS COMMANDANT

“For me, whatever I’m doing is in the interest of the vast majority of Nigerian youths. From what I’m seeing, there is a conspiracy against Nigerian youth. We have bills like this that suffered the same setback but eventually became a reality. We are consoled by the due process of the law and we know that one day, attention would be given to the bill. Building an institution takes a gradual process that we ought not to be in a hurry’ he said.

The commandant said the security agencies had vowed after the passage of the bill by the National Assembly to do anything to forestall the president’s assent.

Penpushing recalled that, on Tuesday, in a letter read by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara,  the president witheld his assent to the Nigerian Peace Corps (Establishment) Bill passed by the National Assembly in 2017. Buhari cited security concerns and financial implications amongst reasons for his decision.

It is also on record that, the headquarters of the Peace Corps has for about a year been under seal by the Nigerian Police, and despite two court orders, the police have said they will keep the facility shut in the “interest of national security and public safety.”

Similarly, the police and other established security agencies, including the State Security Service, have repeatedly resisted the Peace Corps’ push to become a paramilitary agency.