NASS to transmit phase one of proposed constitutional amendments to State Assemblies February ― Gbajabiamila

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila on Tuesday unveiled plans to transmit some of the proposed amendments to the 1999 Construction to the 36 States Houses of Assembly before the end of February 2022.

The Speaker who disclosed this while delivering his welcome address on resumption from the Christmas and New Year holiday tasked his counterparts on the need to document their efforts and our success and communicate the same to our constituents across the nation so that we can be judged individually and collectively by our evident accomplishments.

He observed that the “current constitutional review effort is as crucial as the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill. Amending our nation’s constitution to address longstanding areas of disagreement and remove the vestiges of militarism from our democracy is one of the central commitments we made in the 9th House.

“It is a commitment we must meet or risk the harsh judgment of history. Therefore we will prioritise action to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives.

“Fortunately, we are in the final stages of that effort and will shortly conclude this all-important work. According to the Deputy Speaker, the first set of amendments will be forwarded to the State Assemblies for consideration before the end of February,” Hon. Gbajabiamila assured.

While reeling out the 9th Assembly’s scorecard on the legislation passed so far, the Speaker argued that the House has been unusually proactive despite the challenges posed by COVID-19.

He said: “the 9th House of Representatives, despite the limitations imposed on us by a global pandemic, has been an unusually productive parliament. We have taken legislative action to address longstanding challenges of governance and economics in our country. We have passed landmark legislation to fix our oil and gas industry, reform the police and reorganise the corporate administration system in our country.

“We have considered and passed meaningful legislation that impacts all areas of our national life. Some of these bills are the Police Service Commission Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (Amendment) Bill, and the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act (Amendment) Bill, amongst others.

“Just before we adjourned in 2021, we passed a slate of bills to reform the aviation sector and clean up our airports so that these critical national assets can be properly administered to the best expectations of the Nigerian people.

“We have used the appropriations process and the power of parliament over the public purse to pursue community and constituency development across the country. We have invested in primary, secondary and tertiary education infrastructure. We have provided ICT training centres to facilitate learning and enhance educational outcomes.

“There is, at the moment, virtually no constituency in the country that hasn’t benefitted from significant investment to improve primary healthcare, rehabilitate classrooms and schools and provide community roads,” he noted.

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