Outrage as Tinubu Signs $150 Billion Deal with Clause to Promote LGBTQ 

Nigerian civil society organisations (CSOs), rights advocates, and clerics are angered by the federal government’s decision to sign the contentious $150 billion Samoa Deal.

According to reports, this agreement has provisions requiring developing and underdeveloped countries to promote LGBTQ rights in order for advanced countries to provide them with financial and other forms of assistance.

The agreement, which has the name of the Pacific Island of Samoa and was signed therein on November 15, 2023, is gaining pace in spite of resistance from numerous nations that respect their cultural standards and preserve Christian and Islamic beliefs.

Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, the minister of finance and economic planning, acknowledged the development at an EU reception in Abuja on Monday, July 1, sparking news that Nigeria had ratified the pact.

Bolaji Adebiyi, Bagudu’s media assistant, explained on Wednesday, stating that the documents Bagudu cited at the EU event were just about economic development and did not address same-sex marriage or LGBTQ issues.

Adebiyi demanded that Bagudu sign a contract pertaining to a $150 billion trade element rather than LGBT matters.

Spokesman for federation attorney general and minister of justice Lateef Fagbemi SAN, Kamarudeen Ogundele, declined to comment by press time on the controversy surrounding the Samoa Agreement, stating he needed more time to gather information.

On Wednesday, Sonnie Ekwowusi, a lawyer based in Lagos and the chairman of the African Bar Association’s (AfBA) Human and Constitutional Rights Committee, expressed concerns.

He questioned the wisdom of Nigerian officials and condemned the signing of the Samoa Agreement, calling it “nauseating.”

Ekwowusi went on to question whether the agreement’s signatures, Nigerian officials, were acting in the country’s best interests.

On November 15, 2023, he recalled, Nigeria and thirty-four other countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific had first declined to join the agreement.

He demanded that Nigeria immediately pull out of the Samoa Agreement and that the National Assembly schedule a meeting to question the signatories about their activities.

A representative of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) confirmed the council’s unwavering position on LGBT issues including same-sex marriage when approached.

Although they attended a meeting in March of this year, according to NSCIA administrative secretary Abubakar Akande, it was not their responsibility to approve or disapprove of the document that was given to them.

Similarly, Abdulrazaq Ajani, the Ameer (leader) of the Abuja Muslim Forum (AMF), reported that African civil society organisations (CSOs), including AMF, met with top government officials and members of both chambers of the National Assembly, particularly the chairmen of relevant committees in the House of Representatives.

They also engaged with the administrative leadership of the legislators, and unequivocally rejected the proposed agreement.

When contacted, Rabiu Yusuf, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Treaties, Protocols, and Agreements, said that the Samoa Agreement had not been brought before the National Assembly for consideration.