No Clause Supporting Same Sex In Samoa Agreement – FG

The Federal Government has offered clarification on the June 28, 2024 Samoa Agreement it signed at the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) secretariat in Brussels, Belgium.

There have been insinuations that the $150 billion agreement has some clauses that compel underdeveloped and developing nations to support the agitations by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community for recognition, as condition for getting financial and other supports from advanced societies.

But Minister of Information and National Orientation Alhaji Mohammed Idris, in a statement on Thursday, explained that “The Samoa agreement is nothing but a vital legal framework for cooperation between the OACPS and the European Union, to promote sustainable development, fight climate change and its effects, generate investment opportunities, and foster collaboration among OACPS member states at the international stage.”

Alhaji Idris disclosed that negotiations on the agreement, which started in 2018, on the sidelines of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly, was signed in Apia, Samoa on the November 15, 2018 by 27 EU and 47 of the 79 OACPS member states.

According to him, the agreement has 103 articles comprising a common foundational compact and three regional protocols.

The protocols, Alhaji Idris disclosed, include “Africa-EU; Caribbean-EU, and Pacific-EU regional protocols with each regional protocol addressing the peculiar issues of the regions.”

He added that the African regional protocol consists of two parts.

“The first is the framework for cooperation, while the second deals with areas of cooperation, containing inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development; human and social development; environment, natural resources management, and climate change; peace and security; human rights, democracy and governance; and migration and mobility,” the minister said.

He stated that Nigeria signed the agreemen after the extensive reviews and consultations by the interministerial committee, convened by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning (FMBEP) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Federal Ministry of Justice (FMOJ).

“It was ensured that none of the 103 Articles and Provisions of the agreement contravenes the 1999 Constitution as amended or laws of Nigeria, and other extant laws,” he stated.

Alhaji Idris further disclosed that Nigeria’s endorsement was accompanied by a Statement of Declaration of June 26, 2024, to the effect that any provision that is inconsistent with the laws of Nigeria shall be invalid.

He noted that the Federal Government was aware that there is an existing legislation against same sex relationship in Nigeria enacted in 2014, and assured that “the President Bola Tinubu administration, being a rule-based government will not enter into any international agreement that will be detrimental to the interest of the country and its citizens.

“In negotiating the Agreement, our officials strictly followed the mandates exchanged in 2018 between the EU and the OACPS for the process.”