Reps pass 56 constitutional amendment bills through third reading

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3 years ago

The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, passed through Third reading 56 bills on the amendment of the 1999 Constitution.

The bills were passed during the plenary alongside, a bill that seeks to repeal the Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy (Establishment) Act, 2017 and enact the Federal University of Health Sciences and Technology, Enugu to make comprehensive provisions for the management and administration of the University.

Speaking earlier, the Speaker, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, observed that with public outcry arising from the voting on the constitutional amendment, the House will therefore rescind the decisions taken during voting on 3 of the Bills about women on citizenship, 35 per cent affirmative action and that on the percentage of women to constitute leadership positions in political parties.

He further observed that after the voting takes place in a few weeks, if there is still a difference between the position of the House of Representatives and the Senate will set up harmonization between both chambers.

The 56 bills are; Bills seeking to Abrogate the State Joint Local Government Account and Provide for a Special Account into which shall be paid all Allocations Due to Local Government Councils from the Federation Account and from the Government of the State; Establish Local Government as a Tier of Government and Guarantee their Democratic Existence, Tenure; Provide for the Financial Independence of State Houses of Assembly and State Judiciary; compel persons to obey or comply with Legislative Summons; Regulate the First Session and Inauguration of Members-Elect of the National and State Houses of Assembly; and Institutionalise Legislative Bureaucracy in the Constitution.

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Others include; Bills seeking to provide the Procedure for Overriding Executive Veto in Respect of Money Bill; Establish the Federal Revenue Court and the Revenue Court of a State; Further Strengthen the Judiciary for timely dispensation of justice; Provide the timelines within which Civil and Criminal cases are heard and determined at trial and Appellate Courts in Order to Eliminate unnecessary delay in Justice Administration and Delivery; Ensure Uniformity in the Retirement Age and pension rights of Judicial Officers of Superior Courts of Records; and Delete the Reference to the Provisions of the Criminal Code, Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Act, Criminal Procedure Code or Evidence Act.

The House also passed through Third Reading the bills seeking to exclude the Period of Intervening Events in the Computation of Time for Determining Pre-Election Petitions, Election Petitions and Appeals therefrom; allow Court or Tribunal Proceedings to be conducted remotely, Virtually, Online or through any Media Platform or Technological Innovation; expand the Interpretation of Judicial Office to include Courts or Tribunals created by an Act of the National Assembly or a State Law of the House of Assembly; provide for the Post Call Qualification of the Secretary of the National Judicial Council; and Impose the requirement of fair Hearing in the process of Recommendation of Removal of Judicial Officers by the State Judicial Service Commission.

In the same vein, the bills seeking to: Include Judges of the National Industrial Court in the Composition of Election Tribunal; Empower the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission to Enforce Compliance with Remittance of Accruals into and Disbursement of Revenue from the Federation Account and Streamline the Procedure for Reviewing the Revenue Allocation Formula; Enhance the Independence of Certain Bodies; Remove Transitional Lawmaking Powers from the Executive Arms of Government; Specify the Time within which the Executive shall present to the National Assembly any Treaty between the Federation and any other Country for Enactment; Specify the period within which the President or the Governor of State shall present the Appropriation Bill before the National Assembly or House of Assembly; also scaled through Third Reading.

The bills relating to the devolution of powers, which seek to: Move Airports from Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List; Delete Prisons in the Exclusive Legislative List and Redesignate it as Correctional Service in the Concurrent Legislative List; move Fingerprints, Identification and Criminal Records from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List; move Railway from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List; and allow States Generate, Transmit and Distribute Electricity in Area covered by the National Grid.

The House also passed through Third Reading the bills seeking to: Require the President or Governors to submit the Names of Persons Nominated as Ministers or Commissioners within thirty days of taking the Oaths of Office for Confirmation by the Senate or State House of Assembly; include Presiding Officers of the National Assembly in the Membership of the National Security Council; Establish State Security Council; Empower the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly to summon the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Governors of States to answer Questions on issues on which the National and State Houses of Assembly have the Powers to make Law; reduce the Period within which the President or the Governor of a State may authorize the withdrawal of Monies from the Consolidated Revenue Fund in the absence of an Appropriations Act from six months to three months; Replace the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation with the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government; and Establish the Office of the Accountant–General of the Federal Government separate from the Office of the Accountant –General of the Federation, among others.

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Reps pass 56 constitutional amendment bills through third reading

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Reps pass 56 constitutional amendment bills through third reading