Buhari Assents to Copyright, Medical School Bills 

Udora Orizu in Abuja 

President Muhammadu Buhari has signed two bills recently passed by the National Assembly into law.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), Nasiru Ila, made this known in a statement he issued Thursday and titled ‘Buhari Assents to Copyright Right, Federal College of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology Jos Bills’.

According to Ila, the president assented to the bills on March 17.

He said the new Copyright Act expands the rights of authors, raises the sanctions for criminal infringements and more adequately addresses the challenges posed by digital and online use of copyright works.

The Act, according to him, also provides specially for the needs of the blind, visually impaired and print disabled persons to have access to learning and reading materials in accessible formats.

The statement read: “This Act repeals the Copyright Act, Cap C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and enact the Copyright Act, 2022, to provide for the regulation, protection and administration of copyright. The enactment the new Copyright Act has again demonstrated the commitment of this administration to re-energising Nigeria’s creative economy and making it more globally competitive in the digital and age.

“The principal objectives of the new law, as outlined in Section 1 are to: protect the rights of authors and ensure just rewards and recognition for their intellectual efforts; provide appropriate limitations and exceptions to guarantee access to creative works; facilitate Nigeria’s compliance with obligations arising from relevant international copyright treaties and conventions; and enhance the capacity of the Nigerian Copyright Commission for effective regulation, administration and enforcement.

“The medical school act, repeals the Federal School of Medical Laboratory Science, Jos (Establishment) Act, 2018, and enacts the Federal College of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology, Jos Act, 2023, establishes the Federal College of Medical Laboratory Science, Jos, to make the Institution more effective in the discharge of its functions by strengthening the organisational framework, and to bring its provision in conformity with current democratic principles and operations of existing educational institutions, and the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”