By Miracle Ogunde
Big trouble looms for violators of the Nigerian flag as the House of Representatives is seeking to increase the fine for the defacing of Nigerian flag from N100 to N100,000.
The House on Wednesday passed for second reading a bill to amend the Flag and Coats of Arms Act.
The bill, introduced by Sada Soli, was debated and passed for second reading by the lawmakers.
The Act forbids the defacing or manhandling of the National Flag.
Among other things, the bill seeks to amend section 4 of the principal Act to increase the fine for individual violators from N100 to N100,000.
Also, the bill is proposing N1 million fine for organizations that violate the national flag.
The proposed amendment states that “for an individual will be liable to one hundred thousand naira (N100,000) and in the case of a Corporate Organization, it shall be liable to a Fine of one million naira (N1,000,000) and in the case of a continuing offence, to a Fine of twenty thousand naira (N20,000) for every day for an individual and for a Corporate Organization to a Fine of N100,000 (one hundred thousand) for every day”.
Speaking on the bill, Soli said Nigerians and organisations are notorious for defacing the flag with impunity.
He said the existing law is not sufficient to prevent the abuse of the flag.
The motion was adopted without opposition. It was consequently referred to relevant committees for further action.
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