Reps Approve 39 Constitutional Amendment Bills for Second Reading
In a decisive move, the House of Representatives on Tuesday passed 39 bills for the second reading, all aimed at amending the 1999 Constitution.
The bills, which cover areas such as judicial reforms, governance, security and policing, electoral matters, and more, were approved collectively following a motion put forward by the House Leader, Hon. Julius Ihonvbere, during the plenary session.
Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, who presided over the session, directed that the House suspend its rules in light of the urgency to pass the bills to the Constitution Review Committee for further consideration. This allowed all the proposed legislations to proceed to the second reading simultaneously.
Among the key proposals that advanced to the second reading are bills seeking to mandate simultaneous general elections for the office of the President, State Governors, National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly, and Local Government Councils on the same date, as determined by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in consultation with the National Assembly. Another proposal calls for the compulsory resignation of national and state executive members of political parties who are seeking elective office.
Other significant bills include granting INEC the authority to conduct local government elections, regulating election timelines under the Electoral Act, requiring official resignation before defection by members of the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly, and extending the original jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal to handle election petitions related to governorship and deputy governorship elections, as well as governors’ and deputy governors’ tenures.
There were also bills to empower the National Assembly to alter election tribunal timelines and establish the National Local Government Electoral Commission, an independent body tasked with overseeing local government elections, including those for Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). These proposals aim to transfer responsibility for local government elections from state electoral commissions to INEC.
Furthermore, the bills include provisions for special seats for people with disabilities in federal, state, and local government legislatures, along with the establishment of state and local government police forces. There are also proposals to provide six special seats in the House of Representatives for specific interest groups.
Other bills under consideration include empowering the Chief Justice of Nigeria to announce the inauguration of the National Assembly, the creation of the FCT House of Assembly, the removal of transitional law-making powers from the executive, and setting a time frame for the executive to present treaties for enactment by the National Assembly.
Additionally, the House is reviewing bills that would make recommendations from the National Judicial Council mandatory for removing heads of courts, establish Ecclesiastical Courts of Appeal for both the FCT and the states, and ensure the Court of Appeal serves as the final court for election-related petitions. Another proposed bill seeks to give the Federal High Court jurisdiction over offenses related to violations of the Electoral Act and other related legislation.
