25 States Stalls Constitution Amendment Bills

25 State Houses of Assembly, out of Nigeria’s 36 states, have rejected current constitution amendment bills sent by the National Assembly.

The Chairman of, the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution and Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, who confirmed this on Tuesday, lamented that only 11 states have voted and complied with the constitutional amendment which started earlier this year.

Senator Omo-Agege stated this at a Joint Press Conference on the constitutional amendments and the latest developments within the National Assembly and the thirty-six state Houses of Assembly.

According to Omo-Agege, the 25 other State Houses of Assembly sent a letter to the committee saying that they will not act on the bill until four new bills are passed by the NASS.

The four new bills include the establishment of a state judicial council, the establishment of state police, the streamlining of the procedure for removing presiding officers of state houses of assembly, and a bill to institutionalize legislative bureaucracy in the constitution.

“It is clear that this letter is not in keeping with the obligation of the constitution. We are aware of the undue interference with legislative processes and the political culture of some state houses of assembly by some state governors.

“No doubt, some state governors have worked tirelessly to turn the Conference of Speakers and some state assemblies into political puppets, thereby undermining and delegitimizing the legislative institution at the state level. This interference has been ramped up, especially in opposition to the bills granting financial and administrative autonomy to local governments,” Omo-Agege said.

Constitution amendment bills require the approval of two-thirds (24) of the 36 state houses of assembly before the bills are presented for the president’s assent.

The 11 states that have approved the bill include Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun, and Osun states.

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