Climate Advocates Urge Sule To Assent Bill In Nasarawa

Nasarawa State Network on Environment and Climate Justice (NASNECJ), in collaboration with the Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation, has urged Governor Abdullahi Sule to sign the climate change bill into law.

Mr Emmanuel Envoh-Okolo, the Coordinator of the group, made the appeal on Wednesday in Lafia when he visited the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources to solicit support.

Envoh-Okolo emphasised that signing the bill into law would make for effective governance and mitigate against the impacts of climate change in the state.

The climate change bill was recently passed by the Nasarawa State House of Assembly to streamline actions, adaptation and mitigation against the impacts of climate change in the state.

He added that the climate change had received technical support from African Activists for Climate Justice and NASNECJ.

Envoh-Okolo said the governor’s assent to the bill to become law was critical in the fight against climate change, given that Nasarawa state was among the states ravaged by the impacts of climate change in the country.

“Considering the importance we attached to the passage of this bill, we are here today to have a conversation with the ministry to see how the bill can be signed into law by the state governor.

“The ministry being an umbrella body handling climate change-related issues like policy and programme implementation, we want to see how it can stir up the conversations and engage with the governor to ensure that the bill is assented to,” he said.

According to him, the only opportunity the state has to push for the signing of the bill is now, and failure to get the bill signed into law means that the effort made in the last five years will be wasted.

“If this legislative tenure is over, we still have to start afresh, and we do not want to start the whole of this process again.

“We are not doing anything different from what is at the national level, rather we are basically trying to replicate what has been done at the national level.

“If this bill is eventually signed, it will give the Ministry a better opportunity to coordinate all climate actions across ministries in the state, with enormous benefit for the state,” he said.

Responding, Margaret Elayo, Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, said that the Sule-led administration was committed to mitigating the impacts of climate change, adding that the bill would be assented to by governor.

Represented by Mr Ede Yakubu, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Elayo commended the group for championing the fight against climate change in the state, adding that their efforts would not be wasted.

“I commend you for the project that you are undertaking, your project is encompassing. So, I also appreciate you for that.

“The issue of climate change is universal, It’s a global phenomenon. Nasarawa state is taking it seriously. We are making frantic efforts to ensure that the impacts of climate change are mitigated.

“On the climate change bill, I want to assure you that we are going to collaborate with you to ensure that the bill is signed into law,” the commissioner assured.