President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday rejected the gay marriage suggestion made by the United States, maintaining that it was against the law in Nigeria.
The President who was in the US on a four day State Visit, had continuously been admonished by Nigerians to reject any form of pressure from the host country for Nigeria to adopt a law supporting same sex marriage.
Some leading global economies have been pushing the adoption of same sex marriage as a condition for assisting developing nations.
In a post on his Twitter handle, Presidential Spokesman Femi Adesina said the issue had come up at the joint session of the US Senate and House Committee on foreign affairs and not in a direct meeting with President Obama.
“The issue of gay marriage came up yesterday, but the President was point black, Sodomy is against the law in Nigeria and abhorrent to our culture, “ Adesina said, adding that talks had shifted to another matter once the president emphatically stated Nigeria’s stand on same sex marriage , the issue was not pushed”.
gay-marriage
Nigeria’s former President, Goodluck Jonathan had in January last year, assented to a law banning gay marriage and same-sex partnerships in the country, sparking international condemnation.
Under the anti gay law, anyone who enters into a same-sex marriage or civil union can be sentenced to 14 years in prison, while any such partnerships entered into abroad are considered “void”.
Amnesty International had also at the time, urged Jonathan to reject the Bill, calling it “discriminatory” and warning of “catastrophic” consequences for Nigeria’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.