The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has denied bribing members of the House of Representatives for the passage of the ‘Infectious Diseases Control Bill 2020″ that drew controversy among Nigerians.
The Foundation in a letter signed by the Director, Nigeria Country Office, Paulin Basinga, stated that, it has nothing to do with any alleged financial inducement to the lawmakers regarding the said bill or any other thing.
The letter which was addressed to the Chairman of the Adhoc Committee investigating the allegation and copied to the Speaker, House of Representatives categorically stated that Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation believes that all lives have equal value and that everyone deserves to lead a healthy productive life.
“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has recently been made aware of an allegation circulating in certain elements of the Nigerian media that the Foundation was involved in a payment purportedly made to the Nigeria House of Representatives. Any such allegations are entirely false and without merit.
To be clear, the Foundation has not offered any financial incentives to any member of Nigeria’s legislative branch for the passage of legislation nor has it offered any grants to organizations in Nigeria in connection with the same. The Foundation adheres to strict ethical and legal guidelines across all areas of its operations,” the letter read in part.
The House had after a resolution on a motion of Personal Explanation by the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Idris Wase, set up an investigative panel headed by Henry Nwawuba to investigate the allegation and expose the people behind the alleged report that the House received a ten million US Dolar ($10m) to pass the Infectious Disease Control Bill 2020.
The Bill had on the 28th of April passes First and Second Reading, but some lawmakers objected its scaling to third reading and eventual passage to allow members and Nigerians make input on about Sixty-Page document.
The House has last Tuesday agreed to subject the bill to public hearing in due course.
Source: VON
