NASS to transmit constitution amendment bill to State Houses of Assembly before March

The National Assembly is to transmit 1999 Constitution Amendment Bills to the State Houses of Assembly before the end of February for concurrence and onward transmission to President Muhamadu Buhari for assent.

Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase Chairmen of the House of Representatives and Senate Committees on Constitution Review said this at a harmonisation retreat in Abuja on Friday.

Omo-Agege said the parliament will be considering the 55 amendments to the Constitution drawn from the various submissions by Nigerians to both Chambers of the National Assembly.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic had affected the Constitution review process and commended the foreign commonwealth development office and the European Union for their generous support.

The Deputy Senate President expressed optimism that the amendment will be transmitted to State Houses of Assembly, assuring that the exercise will be completed within the timeline.

“Recall the disruption of the activities of the committees by the Covid-19 pandemic which affected our timelines and made it difficult to deliver on our mandate and promise to Nigerians. I’m therefore delighted to see that we have progressed to this point where we can now jointly decide on the report to be presented to our colleagues for voting in plenary at the end of this month.

“Let me clearly state that the task will not be a simple one, our consultants have analysed submissions from public hearings and memos, harmonised and recommended over 55 bills across the various thematic areas of the exercise.

“We have independently reviewed the consultants’ reports and recommendations, by way of making additional provisions, rejecting and even introducing entirely new Bill on account of various advocacy and agitations on some issues of overriding National concerns,” he stated.

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On his part, Wase who said the Committee was aware of the enormous responsibilities before it, assured that it would work round the clock to ensure that the process is conclude on time.

He said: “We will allow the Bill (s) to go to states before the end of this February; I am seeking for cooperation from everybody so that we can deliver.”

In his presentation, Executive Director Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo called on National Assembly to consider the adoption of the clause on creation of 111 special seats for women in the apex legislature in Nigeria.