The Rivers State Executive Council has approved the proposed bill aimed at giving legal backing to the ban on open rearing and grazing of livestock.
The approval was made on Wednesday at its meeting at Government House, Port Harcourt, presided over by Governor Nyesom Wike.
The Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, in a statement, added that the Attorney General of the State and Commissioner for Justice, Zacchaeus Adangor (SAN), who briefed newsmen after the meeting, said it was impossible for the state to enforce the resolution of the Southern Nigeria Governors Forum on the ban on open rearing and grazing of livestock without an enabling law
He said, “You will recall that on the 11 May 11, 2021, the Southern Nigeria Governors Forum meet in Asaba and in that crucial meeting adopted series of resolution, most critical of it was that open rearing and grazing of cattle will remain banned throughout Southern Nigeria. His Excellency, Governor of Rivers State was part of that meeting. But we realised that we don’t have any extant law criminalising or prohibiting open grazing. And so it has become necessary for the office of the Attorney General of Rivers state to propose a bill for consideration by the State Executive Council. That bill came up before council for deliberation. And after exhaustive deliberation and discussion of the highlights of that bill, the same was approved by council for onwards transmission to the Rivers State House of Assembly for necessary legislative action.”
Adangor said when the bill was assented to by the governor, open grazing of livestock would be criminalised and prohibited in any part of the state.