The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has denied allegations of
offering $10 million bribe to members of the House of Representatives
for the passage of the controversial ‘Infectious Diseases Control Bill
2020″.
The spokesperson of the Coalition of United Political Parties,
(CUPP), Ikenga Ugochinyere, had on May 4, 2020, issued a press statement
in which he alleged that the House and its leadership had received a
financial inducement to the tune of $10 million to rush the passage of
the controversial bill. Some Nigerians went ahead to ahead that second
richest man in the world, Bill Gates, was behind the financial
inducement.
The House of Representatives last week 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.
In a letter signed by its Director, Nigeria Country Office, Paulin
Basinga, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 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 bill which is being sponsored by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, seeks amongst other things, to empower the Minister of Health to convert any building into an Isolation
center during a pandemic or health crisis while the police would be
able to arrest any individual suffering from an infectious disease
without a warrant. The bill has been greeted with stiff opposition.
Members of the House will in the coming weeks conduct a public
hearing on the bill to have the input of Nigerians before further
deliberations.