The Senate on Tuesday directed the Clerk to the National Assembly Sani Magaji Tambuwal to transmit 35 Constitution alteration Bills to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent, while urging seven States yet to forward their resolutions on the constitution alteration Bills to do so.
However, the alteration Bill which seeks to grant financial autonomy to Local Government Areas in Nigeria was not among the Bills that met the requirement for being assented into law.
These resolutions of the Upper Chamber followed its consideration of a motion titled: “Passage of Constitution (Fifth) Alteration Bills, 2023” sponsored by Chairman, Senate Ad hoc Committee on Review of 1999 Constitution, Senator Ovie Omo- Agege and co-sponsored by 65 other Senators.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Michael Bamidele, presented the motion on behalf of Senator Omo-Agege who was absent during plenary.
Bamidele said the 35 Constitution Alteration Bills have satisfied the provisions of Section 9(2) of the Constitution, for passage into law “having been approved by not less than 24 State Houses of Assembly.”
He listed the 27 State Houses of Assembly that have passed the constitution alteration bills to include Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Rivers and Yobe.
He also urged State Houses of Assembly in Gombe, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara yet to forward their resolution on the Constitution Alteration Bills “to do so in fulfillment of their constitutionally imposed legislative obligation to the constitutional amendment process.”