Reps vote against gay marriage in Nigeria

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Reps vote against gay marriage•To enact law against same sex unionsFrom JAMES OJO, AbujaFriday, January 16, 2009
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House of Representatives yesterday unanimously voted for outright ban of same sex marriage anywhere in the country, as the Bill “for an Act to prohibit marriage between persons of same gender, solemnisation of same and other matters related therewith” scaled through without any opposition.Sponsored by Hon. Mayor Eze, deputy chairman, House Committee on Steel, all the lawmakers who spoke in favour of the Bill demanded for an outright ban on such acts.Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman, House Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Igo Aguma, chairman, House Committee on Gas Resources, Hon. Aminu Shehu Shagari, chairman, House Committee on Steel, Hon, Chinyere Igwe, deputy chairman, House Committee on Human Rights and Tahir Monguno, all condemned such marriage, saying that it was immoral, against African tradition and God designs for human being.Hon. Tahir, for instance, noted that the act depicts moral decadence in any given society and a digress from God’s purpose of creating marriage institution, stressing that such act as stated in both Islam and Christian religions remain ungodly act.For Hon. Igo Aguma, he argued that “it is against my faith to have same sex marriage. It is against our penal code to even engage in activities that are as quarrelsome as this between man and man, as well as women and women.“It is time for us at this point in time to think back and look at the scourge of HIV/AIDS. The greatest means of transmitting this disease is through the act of ‘sodomy’. Young children are already victims of been lured into this cruel and unimaginable act. It is an act of perversion.”Also speaking in favour of the Bill, Hon. Dabiri-Erewa noted that the Bill was extensively considered at public hearing before the expiration of the last administration.She added that a public hearing had been organized to collate peoples’ views and opinion, adding that it was a general view that “the act should not be encouraged in Nigeria,” while calling for the reports of the public hearing to be a guide in the final decision of the House.Speaker Oladimeji Bankole put the Bill to vote to be read for the second reading, it was carried and the Bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Justice and Women Affairs.