President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday signed the Endangered Species (Control of International Trade and Traffic) Amendment Act 2016.
The Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate) to the President, Ita Enang while speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the ceremony, said: “This is one of the 10 bills that were forwarded by the National Assembly to Mr. President and he has just assented to this, almost completing every action on all the bills that were forwarded to him by the National Assembly.
“The intent of this amendment is to bring the penalty provisions in line with economic realities and to act as a deterrent or deter people from trafficking and trading in endangered species because endangered are preserves of the country.
“It will discourage traffic and it will improve agriculture and the preservation of endangered species in Nigeria. This is an amendment bill.
“This law has been in existence but what the National Assembly has done and the President has assented to today is to increase the penalty for violation of the provisions and to bring it in line with today’s reality.”
