The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Professor Itse Sagay, has asked the 17 Southern Governors to back their decision to ban open grazing with law.
In an interview on Channels Television on Monday, Sagay urged the governors to approach various state Assemblies in the South to pass a law banning open grazing in their individual state.
He noted that the declaration by the governors will not be as impactful as a law from each Southern state prohibiting open grazing.
Sagay said: “I have been advocating ranching for cattle herding since 2011 as the only way out. I was the first to talk about it until it became an existential threat to many communities, particularly in the South.
“Frankly, I don’t think a declaration is sufficient, governors have to go back to their individual houses of assemblies and introduce motions, the way Benue state did and actually pass a law on banning open grazing and instituting ranching.
“So a proclamation is not enough unless they already have laws which give powers to each governor which I don’t think is the case.
“There is a need for each state assembly to actually pass a law against open grazing. This is for me legally a declaration of intent but it should be followed up by legislation in the individual state of assembly of the Southern states. “They have to pass laws prohibiting open grazing.”
The article was originally published on Nigeria News