Ebun Francis || President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday refused to assent to the bill seeking to establish the Peace Corps.
In a letter to lawmakers read by Yakubu Dogara, the speaker of the house of the representatives at plenary ,President Buhari cited security concerns and financial burden of funding the organisation by the government as his reasons for rejecting the bill.
According to the President, given “scarce government resources”, funding the organisation will be a financial burden on the federal government.
Buhari said further in the letter that the organisation is a duplication of existing security agencies.
According to him, the bill seeks to empower the peace Corps to undertake activities currently being performed by extant security and law enforcement agencies.
The National Assembly passed the Peace Corps Bill in 2017, after a prolonged battle between the organisation and the country’s security agencies.