The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, confirmed that Nigeria had signed the controversial Samoa Agreement at a reception organised by the European Union (EU) in Abuja on July 1.
The agreement, which was reached at the Pacific Island Samoa on November 15, 2023, has continued to gain grounds, especially across countries highly dependent on financial aids.
Speaking on the controversy surrounding the deal, Bagudu’s media assistant, Bolaji Adebiyi, said the documents signed by the federal government, which the Minister of Budget made reference to during the reception by the EU, were strictly for economic development of Nigeria.
Adebiyi said nowhere in the documents were LGBTQ or same-sex marriage mentioned even remotely, and emphatically stating that it would be wrong for anyone to imply that Nigeria had accepted those tendencies.
He insisted that what Bagudu signed was in relation to $150 billion trade component.
In his words, ” The article does not represent the content of the Samoa Agreement signed by Nigeria. The Articles 2.5 and 29.5 cited made no mention of LGBT rights but rather 29.5 guarantees ‘support [for] universal access to sexual and reproductive health commodities and health care services, including family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes.
“Article 2.5 states that: ‘The parties shall systematically promote a gender perspective and ensure that gender equality is mainstreamed across all policies.”
He continued, “I fail to see how these articles imply the protection of LGBT rights. Please, note that this is a negotiated agreement among the 27 EU countries and 79 OACPS, which is subject to domestic laws. All 27 EU countries and 74 of the 79 OACPS have signed. Nigeria was the 73rd to sign last Friday, 28th June, in Brussels,” Adebiyi stated.
However, following the controversy around the agreement, Adebiyi disclosed that the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning organised a stakeholders meeting in March in Abuja, comprising NGOs and religious bodies during which concerns were addressed.
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