President Muhammadu Buhari has thrown his weight behind the bill proposed by the senate to criminalise lecturers having carnal knowledge of students.
The sexual harassment bill proposed a five-year sentence and N5m fine for lecturers convicted for sexually harassing male or female students.
It was passed by the 8th Senate but didn’t see the light of the day following the failure of Buhari to assent to it.
The 9th Senate during the week reintroduced the bill on the heels of viral report of Dr Boniface Igbeneghu, a former sub-dean of Faculty of Art, University of Lagos (Unilag) caught on camera demanding sex from a purported 17-year-old in return for admission into the university.
In a statement the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Buhari, Garba Shehu released, the president hinted of his preparedness to assent to the proposal on demand, so far it does not contradict existing laws.
It reads in part: “In his reaction to the recent high profile revelation of sexual abuse cases in institutions of higher learning in the country, President Buhari said he was glad that the incident, exposed through undercover news reporting at UNILAG, had spurred an amendment to our laws regarding the issue at the National Assembly.
“President Buhari said such proposed amendments passed by the Legislature would get his support as long as they conformed to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The country must do more to address incidents of sexual violence, sexual abuses in our schools, discrimination, human trafficking and cultural practices that violate women’s rights.”
