Buhari signs medical residency training bill into law

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday signed two bills into law.


They are the Medical Residency Training Act 2018 and the Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (Establishment, etc) Amendment Act 2018.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja.

According to Enang, the Medical Residency Training Act, 2018,  enacts and regulates the Medical Residency Training Programme for the training of medical practitioners and dental surgeons to be regulated and managed by the National Medical Post-graduate College of Nigeria.

“This programme is for persons who possess the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB.BSc, MB. CH, B, BDS), or its equivalent, have gone through the NYSC programme with discharge or exemption certificate, and possess professional indemnity certificate from a reputable insurance company, among others.

“This Act is directed at assuring the quality and competence of medical practice and practitioners in Nigeria through statutory medical training programmes to encourage medical tourism from other countries to Nigeria and build further confidence in Nigeria’s medical system,” he said.

On the Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (Establishment, etc) Amendment Act 2018, Enang said, “The Act, No. 7 of 2010 provides in Section 2(a): That 30 per cent of the revenue generated by any company or authority from the operation of any hydroelectric dams in any member state of the commission shall be paid and credited to the commission.

“The amendment Act just assented to has reduced same from 30 per cent to 10 per cent.

“The amendment further fortifies the power of the minister to issue policy directives as well as re-enforce statutory powers of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to regulate the electricity industry under the principal Act.

“The amendment eliminates ambiguity in the law and role conflict of the responsible institutions as well as properly providing for the exercise of statutory powers of NERC,  which was established before now.”