The House of Representatives has finally stepped down the debate on the controversial re-ordering of elections’ time table in the amended Electoral Act, 2010.
President Muhammadu Buhari in a letter sent to the House, expressed his resolve to withhold assent to the amendment to the Electoral Act.
During the review of the letter transmitted by President Buhari to the House in March 2018, the leadership of the House swiftly vowed to revisit the bill.
Edward Pwajok, lead sponsor of the Electoral Act who spoke when asked to lead the debate during Wednesday plenary, expressed intention to step down a ‘bill for an Act to amend the provisions of the Electoral Act, No. 6, 2010 to make provision for sequence of elections in Nigeria, and for related matters’.
Meanwhile, Femi Gbajabiamila, Majority Leader who was listed as co-sponsor of the Electoral Act (amendment) bill, disowned knowledge on the controversial bill.
He maintained that he did not at anytime be a party to be co-opted into the sponsorship of the bill.
Similarly, the House stepped down the debate on the bill for an Act to amend the provisions of the Electoral Act, No. 6, 2010 to further improve the Electoral process and for other related matter, sponsored by Aisha Dukku due to her absence when she was called upon to lead the debate on the bill.
In a related development, the House adopted all the recommendations of the State Houses of Assembly’s on the fourth alterations of the 1999 Constitution.
Speaking earlier, Yussuff Lasun, Deputy Speaker who presided over the plenary session, explained that the House is under obligation to conclude the exercise on the Constitution review report, as the Senate had on Wednesday passed the resolution of the State Houses of Assembly.
Abdulrasaq Namdas, chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs who spoke on the House resolution, explained that Lagos State did not vote on any of the proposed amendment to the Constitution review.
He added that 35 State House of Assembly voted on the 33 Constitution amendment.
According to the Deputy Speaker, 33 bills seeking to alter various provisions of the Constitution were presented at the Senate and the House of Representatives on Wednesday, 26th July and Thursday 27th July, 2017 respectively.
He added that the Senate had passed 29 bills with the required two-third majority of members while the House of Representatives passed 21 bills with the required two-third majority of the members.
He however observed that the two Houses passed 15 of the bills without any difference and have since transmitted same to the State Houses of Assembly for their resolution while four of the Bills were passed with differences and have been committed to a Conference Committee for further legislative action.
“The House acknowledges that thirty-five State Houses of Assembly – Abia, Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross-River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara, have forwarded their resolutions on the Bills transmitted to them.
“The House is convinced that the following Constitution Alteration Bills have satisfied the provisions of Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution for their passage into law,” Lasun noted.
Breakdown of the report showed that 28 states voted in favour of Authorization of Expenditure in absence of Appropriation; 33 States voted in favour of Financial Autonomy of State legislatures); 32 states voted in favour of Political parties and Electoral Matters; 34 states voted in favour of the Nigeria Police Force while ; 32 states voted in favour of Restriction of Tenure of President and Governor.
Twenty nine states also voted in favour of Submission from the Judiciary; 33 states favoured determination of pre-election matters; 27 States favoured Consequential Amendment on Civil Defence; 24 States favoured Procedure for Overriding Presidential Veto in Constitutional Alteration; 33 states favoured Reduction of Age for Election); while 27 states favoured Timeline for the Presentation of Appropriations Bill.
To this end, the House resolved to adopt the returns of the State Houses of Assembly on the Constitution Alteration Bills, 2018, having met the requirements of the provisions of Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution and be processed in line with the Acts Authentication Act and be transmitted to the President for his assent.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
