FG Denies Signing $150bn Agreement Promoting LGBTQ Rights With EU

The federal government has refuted reports that the recent trade agreement it signed with the European Union, EU, has some conditions attached to it promoting LGBTQ rights.

The Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration said the $150 billion Samoa Agreement, signed on July 1 in Abuja, the nation’s capital was purely an economic agreement.

LGBTQ which means Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer has been outlawed in Nigeria.

Since the report of the agreement broke, not a few Nigerians have condemned the adminstration for allegdly entering an agreement which is against the country’s extant laws.

The government’s rebuttal was made by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the Ministry which signed the agreement, according to reports.

Reacting to the issue, Bolaji Adebiyi, the spokesman to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu disclosed that  the documents signed with the EU were strictly for economic development of the country.

Adebiyi said there was no place that LGBTQ righst were mentioned in the agreement, saying it would be wrong for anyone to imply that Nigeria had accepted those tendencies.

According to him,  “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’.

“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.

“Following the controversy around the agreement, 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.”

In January 2014, former President Goodluck Jonathan signed the bill that outlwed LGBTQ rights after it has been passd by the National Assembly.

Similarly, Kamarudeen Ogundele, who is the spokesman of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi (SAN), said he had no details of the signed agreement