THE National Assembly has voted on 68 bills seeking to amend various sections of the 1999 Constitution.
Voting on the bills was done simultaneously by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Senate, led by Ahmed Lawan, assented to 47 bills while the House of Representatives headed by Femi Gbajabiamila okayed 53 bills.
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Bills that were passed in only one chamber will not make the list of those that are to be sent to the state houses of assembly to be voted on in continuation of the Constitution amendment process.
As a result, 43 bills that were passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives would be sent to the state assemblies.
Bills that are passed by two-thirds of the state assemblies would be sent to the president for assent into law.
Both chambers voted for independent candidacy in elections and also voted in favour of a bill that seeks to separate the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation from that of the Minister of Justice.
Also, the lawmakers voted against life pension for presiding officers of the National Assembly and rejected virtually all provisions designed to improve women’s inclusion in the Nigerian political space.
The lawmakers voted against a bill to provide special seats for women in the National Assembly and state houses of assembly.
The bill was defeated in the Senate with 58 votes out of 91 while 208 members of the House of Representatives voted against it.
| BILLS | SENATE | REPS |
| 1. Financial autonomy for LGAs | Yes | Yes |
| 2. Administrative autonomy for LGAs | Yes | Yes |
| 3. Bill to change names of Afikpo north and south LGAs of Bayelsa state | Yes | Yes |
| 4. Bill to change the name of Kunchi LGA of Kano state | Yes | Yes |
| 5. Bill to change the name of Egbado LGA of Ogun state | Yes | Yes |
| 6. Bill to change the name of Barkin Ladi LGA of Plateau state | No | No |
| 7. Bill to correct name of Atigbo LGA of Oyo state | Yes | Yes |
| 8. Bill to correct Obia/Akpor LGA of Rivers state | Yes | Yes |
| 9. Financial autonomy for state legislature and judiciary | Yes | Yes |
| 10. Bill to make persons comply with the legislative summons | Yes | Yes |
| 11. Bill to regulate inauguration of national assembly members-elect | Yes | Yes |
| 12. Bill for the constitution to recognise National Assembly Civil Service Commission | Yes | No |
| 13. Bill to guide procedure for the national assembly to pass a constitutional bill where president refuses assent | No | No |
| 14. Bill to provide the procedure for overriding the president’s veto in respect of money bills | No | Yes |
| 15. Bill to provide a procedure to remove presiding officers of the national assembly | No | No |
| 16. Pension for presiding officers of the national assembly | No | No |
| 17. Bill to establish federal and state revenue court | No | Yes |
| 18. Judicial reforms | No | Yes |
| 19. Timeline for civil and criminal cases | No | Yes |
| 20. Uniformity of retirement age for judicial officers | Yes | Yes |
| 21. Delete reference to provisions of criminal code, penal code, etc | Yes | Yes |
| 22. Time for determining pre-election matters, appeals, etc | Yes | Yes |
| 23. Provision for a virtual court hearing | No | Yes |
| 24. Expand the interpretation of judicial office to include courts or tribunals | Yes | Yes |
| 25. Provision of “post-call qualification” of secretary of the National Judicial Council (NJC) | Yes | Yes |
| 26. Provision to permit public servants to engage in healthcare, education, production and service beyond farming | Yes | Yes |
| 27. Fair hearing for the removal of judicial officers | Yes | Yes |
| 28. Provision to include judges of National Industrial Court in election tribunals | No | Yes |
| 29. Provision to move airports from exclusive to the concurrent list | Yes | Yes |
| 30. To move biometrics and criminal records from exclusive to the concurrent list | Yes | Yes |
| 31. Delete prisons from the exclusive list and redesignate it as correctional services in the concurrent list | Yes | Yes |
| 32. Move railway from exclusive to the concurrent list | Yes | Yes |
| 33. Allow states to generate and transmit power in areas covered by the national grid | Yes | Yes |
| 34. Bill to add VAT to the exclusive list | No | No |
| 35. Bill to provide special seats for women at the national assembly | No | No |
| 36. Bill to expand the scope of citizenship by registration | Yes | No |
| 37. Affirmative action for women in political party administration | No | No |
| 38. Provision for criteria to be an indigene of a state in Nigeria | Yes | No |
| 39. Bill to empower RMAFC to enforce remittance of accruals and disbursement from the federation account | Yes | Yes |
| 40. Bill to enhance the independence of certain bodies | Yes | Yes |
| 41. Bill to remove “transitional lawmaking powers” from executive | Yes | Yes |
| 42. Immunity to legislative and judiciary arms of government | No | No |
| 43. Timeline for the executive to present treaty to the national assembly for domestication | Yes | Yes |
| 44. Timeline for the presentation of the budget by president or governor | Yes | Yes |
| 45. Bill to compel president or governor to submit names of ministers or commissioners within 30 days of taking the oath of office | Yes | Yes |
| 46. Provision to include presiding officers of the national assembly as members of the security council | Yes | Yes |
| 47. Provision for the establishment of the state security council | Yes | Yes |
| 48. Provision to empower national assembly or state assemblies to summon president or governor on issues they have the power to make law | Yes | Yes |
| 49. Limit the period a president or governor can withdraw funds in absence of budgets from six to three months | Yes | Yes |
| 50. To replace Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the federation with CRF of FG | Yes | Yes |
| 51. Bill to establish the office of the accountant-general of the federal government separate from the office of the accountant-general of the federation | Yes | Yes |
| 52. Specify the time to conduct a population census | Yes | Yes |
| 53. Bill to detach office of attorney-general of the federation from the minister of justice | Yes | Yes |
| 54. Provision for the state of the nation address by the president | Yes | Yes |
| 55. Provision to include former heads of the national assembly in the council of state | Yes | Yes |
| 56. Termination of tenure of elected officials who defect to other political parties | No | No |
| 57. Provision to enhance existing provisions for the formation of political parties | Yes | Yes |
| 58. Provision for independent candidacy | Yes | Yes |
| 59. Diaspora voting | No | No |
| 60. Office of the mayor of Abuja | No | Yes |
| 61. Appointment of indigenous FCT minister | No | Yes |
| 62. Correct error in the delineation of FCT boundary | Yes | Yes |
| 63. Free, compulsory basic education | Yes | Yes |
| 64. Define acts that constitute torture | No | No |
| 65. Rights to food and food security | Yes | Yes |
| 66. Define core functions of NSCDC | Yes | No |
| 67. Traditional rulers council to advise president, governor | No | Yes |
| 68. Reserve quota for women | No | Yes |
Amos Abba is a journalist with the International Center for Investigative Reporting, ICIR, who believes that courageous investigative reporting is the key to social justice and accountability in the society.