THE House of Representatives on Wednesday adopted the returns of the State Houses of Assembly on the Constitution Alteration Bills, 2018.

The returns according to the House met the requirements of the provisions of Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution as amended and would be processed in line with the Acts Authentication Act and transmitted to the President for his assent.

The House Leader, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila while moving motion for adoption of the returns from states Houses of Assembly said that, “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”.

According to him, “recalled that the Senate had passed 29 bills with the required 2/3 majority of Members while the House of Representatives had 21 bills with the required 2/3 majority of the members.

“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 4 (Four) of the Bills were passed with differences and have been committed to a Conference Committee for further legislative action.

He however noted “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 following Constitution Alteration bills, he added that, have satisfied the provisions of Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution for their passage into law.

“Constitution (Fourth Alteration) Bill No 2 (Authorization of Expenditure in absence of Appropriation); Yes: 28 States, No: 6 States, Abstain 1 State;

“Constitution (Fourth Alteration) Bill No 4 (Financial Autonomy of State legislatures); Yes: 33 States, No: 1 State, Abstain: 1 State;

“Constitution (Fourth Alteration) Bill No 8 (The Legislature); Yes: 34 States, No: 1 State;

“Constitution (Fourth Alteration) Bill No 9 (Political parties and Electoral Matters); Yes: 32 States, No: 1 State, Abstain: 2 States;

“Constitution (Fourth Alteration) Bill No 15 (The Nigeria Police Force); Yes: 34 States, No: 1 State;

“Constitution (Fourth Alteration) Bill No 16 (Restriction of Tenure of President and Governor); Yes: 32 States, No: 2 State, Abstain 1 State;

“Constitution (Fourth Alteration) Bill No 20 (Submission from the Judiciary); Yes: 29 States, No: 2 State, Abstain: 4 States;

“Constitution (Fourth Alteration) Bill No 21 (Determination of Pre-Election Matters); Yes: 33 States, Abstain: 2 State;

“Constitution (Fourth Alteration) Bill No 22 (Consequential Amendment on Civil Defence); Yes: 27 States, No: 1 State, Abstain: 7 State;

“Constitution (Fourth Alteration) Bill No 24 (Procedure for Overriding Presidential Veto in Constitutional Alteration); Yes: 24 States, No: 8 States, Abstain: 3 States;

“Constitution (Fourth Alteration) Bill No 27 (Reduction of Age for Election); Yes: 33 States, Abstain: 2 States;

“Constitution (Fourth Alteration) Bill No 28 (Time Line for the Presentation of Appropriations Bill); Yes: 27 States, No: 6 States, Abstain: 2 States”, he stated.

The Deputy Speaker, Honourable Lasun Yusuf who presided over the session said that the amendments would be sent to President Muhammadu Buhari for his assent.

Speaking with newsmen after plenary, the Chairman House Committee on Media and Publicity, Honourable Abdulrasak Namdas said that the 12 clauses already passed would now be transmitted to the Executive for the President’s ascent within one month.

The lawmaker said that the passage of the 12 clauses ‎was a landmark achievement for the 8th session of the National Assembly as all the previous moves to amend the constitutions failed which made the present Assembly do it in clauses.

Meanwhile, a bill for an Act to amend the provisions of the Electoral Act, No. 6, 2010 to make Provision for a sequence of Elections in Nigeria; and for Related Matters (HB.1426) sponsored by Honourable Edward Gyang Pwajok and 7 others slated for the second reading was stepped down by the lawmaker.

The lawmaker noted that he decided to step down the bill after consultation with his colleagues.

However, Honourable Gbajabiamila said that he was surprised that his name was included as one of the sponsors of the bill.