History The bill was first placed to the National Assembly by Justice Minister
Bayo Ojo on January 18, 2006, but it was not passed during the first reading. On January 18, 2007, the bill was approved by the
Federal Executive Council and resent before the National Assembly. However, it received condemnation from
human rights organizations for its restrictions on
freedom of speech and organization, potentially placing Nigeria at odds with several international agreements to which the country was signatory. It was also seen in Nigeria as being a last-ditch election-year effort of the
Obasanjo administration to appeal to public sentiment, since the second reading of the bill was being pushed after the Senate's defeat of
a bill to amend the Constitution's limit on the number of presidential terms. As a result, the bill was not passed by either house before the
general election that year.
Summary The proposed bill called for five years imprisonment for anyone who undergoes, "performs, witnesses, aids, or abets" a same-sex marriage. It would also prohibit any display of a "same-sex amorous relationship" and adoption of children by gays or lesbians. The bill was expected to receive little or no opposition in Parliament. The bill also called for five years imprisonment for involvement in public advocacy or associations supporting the rights of lesbian and gay people. Included in the bill was a proposal to ban any form of relationship with a gay person. The intent of the bill was to ban anything associated with being gay in the country.
Domestic reaction The overwhelming majority of Nigerians were in full support of this legislation as it reflected the desire of the people who do not see it as a fundamental human right issue. Of the few dissenting voices, one of the stiffest domestic opponents of the legislation was
Davis Mac-Iyalla, a homosexual Nigerian LGBT rights advocate who heads the Nigerian chapter of
Changing Attitude, an Anglican pro-LGBT organization based in the
United Kingdom. Mac-Iyalla, who was repeatedly arrested by Nigerian police in pro-LGBT demonstrations in previous years, was already an opponent of
Peter Akinola, the then Anglican Primate of the Church of Nigeria.
International reaction In February 2006, the United States State Department attacked the proposal. But the Nigerian governmental organisation in charge of control of HIV/AIDS cater specifically for homosexual patients through the
Nigerian Diversities Network (NDN). NDN has a mission of working in partnership with all key stakeholders (including homosexual people) to significantly reduce the HIV/AIDS vulnerability. The NDN works closely with government departments through its offices in the national and state capitals. ==Legislation in 2014==