LIVE UPDATES: Senate, Reps Approve LG, State Legislature, Judiciary's Financial Autonomy
The National Assembly comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives will on Tuesday, March 1, vote separately in their plenary sessions on 68 proposed amendments to the 1999 Constitution.
The report of the constitution review containing the proposed amendments was presented before both chambers recently by the ad hoc committees set up to carry out a comprehensive review.
Among major amendments on which lawmakers will decide is financial autonomy for state assemblies and judiciary, legislature, life pension for the principal officers of the National Assembly, virtual court sittings, voting by Nigerians in the diaspora, and more representation of women in the chambers.
Others include independent candidacy, mayor for Abuja, power of the NASS to summon president, governor, immunity for the presiding officers of the legislature, timeframe for appointing ministers and commissioners, expanding the scope of citizenship by registration and separating the office of the AGF from the minister of justice.
Senate adjourns
Senate adjourns Plenary to Wednesday, March, 2.
Read for the third time and passed: Number of Passed Bills
Bills 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 62, 63, 65, and 66 were read the Third Time and PASSED!
Passed bills to be read second time
After the votes, Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi moves that Bills that have been passed be read the Second Time.
Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe seconds.
Afterwards, the Senate President rules that Bills that have been voted for and Passed be now read the Third Time.
Where to get list of all 68 bills; both passed and failed to pass
The Senate has voted on the all the 68 proposed amendments. You can check all the bills here.
The House of Reps has also voted on the bills. The votes have been made available on the House's official Twitter page.
FAILED to PASS: Bill to establish National and State Councils of Traditional Rulers
A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Establish the National and State Councils of Traditional Rulers to advise the President and Governors on Matters Related to Customs, Security and Public Order; and for Related Matters has failed to pass.
Here is how the senators voted:
Yes - 63
No – 17
Abstain – 1
Total: 81
The Bill failed to Pass!
PASSED: Bill to make free, compulsory & basic education a fundamental right
A Bill for an Act to Alter the Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to make Free, Compulsory & Basic Education a Fundamental Right of all Citizens under Chapter IV of the Constitution has been passed:
Here is how the Senators voted:
Yes - 88
No –1
Abstain – 0
Total: 89
The Bill is Passed!
Senate approves bill on independent candidacy
The Senate has passed a bill that seeks to allow independent candidates to contest for elective positions.
However, the red chamber rejected a bill seeking to allow Nigerians in Diaspora to vote during elections, according to The Nation.
It also gave the same position to a bill that seeks to provide for the election of mayor for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Added to this, a bill seeking to ensure that a person who is a registered voter and resident in the FCT is appointed a minister representing the territory was denied approval by way of voting.
Senate votes on defection: end of tenure obased on cross-carpeting
The bill seeking to terminate the tenure of politicians after they defect to other political platforms has failed in the Senate.
This was how senators voted on the controversial bill:
Yes - 25
No - 50
Abstain - 0
Total votes - 75
Bill seeking to create on office of the accountant general of federation, office of the accountant general of FG passed
The Senate has voted on the bill to establish the office of the accountant general of the federation and that of the accountant general of the federal government.
Below is the result of the exercise:
Yes - 88
No - 0
Abstain - 0
Total votes - 88
Total registered votes - 94
Following this result, the bill was passed by the red chamber.
NASS passes bill for ministers, commissioners to emerge in 1 month
The National Assembly has passed a bill for an Act mandating the President and Governors to submit nominees for ministers and commissioners only 30 days after assuming office.
92 Senators voted in favour of the bill, while 289 lawmakers in the House of Representatives supported it, The Nation said.
Reps reject life pension for principal officers of NASS
The House of Representatives has rejected the bill for a constitutional life pension to Senate resident, speaker, and their deputies.
The Nation and Leadership have it that 162 House of Representatives members voted against it while only three abstained.
Reps reject bill seeking to include VAT on exclusive list
The leadership of the House of Representatives rejected a bill seeking to include Value Added Tax (VAT) in the exclusive list.
According to The Cable, not less than 200 lawmakers voted against the amendment, while 91 members supported it.
Reps reject bill seeking to create special seats for women in NASS
The House of Representatives has rejected a bill seeking to provide special seats for women in the National Assembly.
Although 81 lawmakers voted in support of the bill, it failed at the house as 207 lawmakers voted against it, The Cable reports.
Constitution Review: Senate suspends electronic scoreboard for voting
The Senate has suspended the use of the electronic board in recording votes for various amendments to the Nigerian constitution.
The suspension, caused by the malfunctioning of the board, was announced by the Senate president, Dr Ahmad Lawan, The Nation reports.
However, some senators opposed his suggestion that the voting should be done manually.
He pleaded with senators to trust him to be transparent in announcing the results of the manual voting.
Lawan's position was that there was no guarantee that the board will be functioning if the voting exercise is shifted to another date, precisely Wednesday, March 2.
Supporting this view, Senator James Manager said the situation will negatively affect the integrity of the process.
Senate, Reps vote for LG, state legislature, judiciary's financial autonomy
The Senate has passed bills to grant financial and administrative autonomy to local governments areas in all states within Nigeria.
While 92 senators voted to pass financial autonomy for local governments, 88 federal lawmakers voted for the administrative autonomy of LGAs as reported by The Nation.
In the same vein, lawmakers at the House of Representatives on Tuesday voted for financial and administrative autonomy for local government councils across the country.
Added to this, the House voted to amend the Constitution to grant autonomy to the legislature and judiciary arms at the state level.
Osinbajo’s wife in Senate to observe voting process
Dolapo Osinbajo, the wife of Nigeria's vice president, was at the Senate chamber on Tuesday to witness the voting process on the proposed amendments.
Tribune reports that she came into the chamber in the company of Paulin Tallen the women affairs minister and other women leaders.
Welcoming the vice president's wife into the red chamber, Senate President Ahmad Lawan commended her and other women for their keen interest in such an exercise that will determine the nation's future.
Onyirioha Nnamdi Onyirioha Nnamdi is a graduate of Literature and English Language at the University of Lagos. He is a Politics/Current Affairs Editor who writes on news and political topics for Legit.ng. He brings into his reporting a wealth of experience in creative and analytical writing. Nnamdi has a major interest in local and global politics. He has a professional certificate from Reuters and was awarded the editor with the best listicle for 2021. Contact: 08062988054, o.nnamdi@corp.legit.ng
Nurudeen Lawal (Head of Politics and Current Affairs Desk) Nurudeen Lawal is an AFP-certified journalist with a wealth of experience spanning over 8 years. He received his B/Arts degree in Literature-in-English from OAU. Lawal is the Head of the Politics/CA Desk at Legit.ng, where he applies his expertise to provide incisive coverage of events. He was named the Political Desk Head of the Year (Nigeria Media Nite-Out Award 2023). He is also a certified fact-checker (Dubawa fellowship, 2020). Contact him at lawal.nurudeen@corp.legit.ng or +2347057737768.
