Nigeria may revisit a law that prescribes a 14-year jail sentence for gay marriage, says former President Goodluck Jonathan.
“When it comes to equality, we must all have the same rights as Nigerian citizens,” Jonathan said at a forum at Bloomberg’s European headquarters in London on Monday, June 6, 2016.
In 2014, Jonathan signed a law criminalizing same-sex marriages, gay groups and public displays of affection by homosexuals. The decision triggered condemnation by religious leaders, human rights groups and Western governments.
But at the forum, Monday, where he presented a rousing speech on democracy in Nigeria and Africa, titled, Civis Nigerianus Sum – I am a Citizen of Nigeria’, the former president acknowledged that there is need for equality in Nigeria saying that the “issue of sexual orientation is still evolving”.
“In the light of deepening debates for all Nigerians and other citizens of the world to be treated equally and without discrimination, and with the clear knowledge that the issue of sexual orientation is still evolving, the nation may at the appropriate time revisit the law,” Jonathan said.
You may read Dr. Jonathan’s speech HERE.
