The House of Representatives has urged the federal government through its Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investments to immediately halt the signing and implementation of the trade partnership with the United Kingdom.
The house said the agreement should cease until its terms and conditions were fully examined and ascertained.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion by Rep. Kingsley Chinda (PDP-Rivers) at plenary in Abuja on Tuesday.
Moving the motion, Mr Chinda noted that the economic and trade partnership between the United Kingdom and Nigeria aimed to explore new opportunities in key sectors like energy, legal, and financial services.
He said the trade deal heightened as the legal aspect appeared lopsided and tilted mainly in favour of the UK to the detriment of qualified Nigerian lawyers.
He added that the agreement sought to allow UK lawyers to enter the Nigerian legal space and practice but not vice versa.
According to him, while the deal seeks to foster collaboration between the film and media industries in the UK and Nigeria, it does not cater to Nigerian lawyers’ interests.
He added that there were no such provisions or opportunities for them to practice their trade in the UK.
He said while it was good for Nigeria to enter into partnership deals with other countries, such deals must be seen to promote, preserve, and protect the interests of the generality of Nigerians.
He said the parliament needed to investigate the trade deal between the UK and Nigeria to ascertain its terms and conditions.
“Unless immediate steps are taken to investigate the issue, Nigeria may unwittingly be entering into a deal whose terms and conditions may be unfavourable to the country,” he stressed.
Adopting the motion, the parliament mandated its Committee on Treaties, Protocols, and Agreements to investigate the matter and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.
(NAN)
