In a bid to reform the electoral process, the Senate has given the Clerk to the National Assembly the go-ahead to send the Constitution alteration Bill No. 58 to President Muhammadu Buhari for his assent. The bill aims to permit Independent Candidacy for elections across several levels of government, including the Presidential, Governorship, National and State Houses of Assembly, as well as Local Government Councils elections.
The Senate reached this decision in Tuesday’s plenary session, following the approval of the Constitution Alteration Bill No. 46 and 58 by the Gombe State House of Assembly. This resolution was forwarded to the National Assembly for concurrence.
Consequently, the upper chamber directed the clerk to transmit constitution alteration bill No. 46 to President Buhari. The bill seeks to include the presiding officers of the National Assembly in the membership of the National Security Council.
While these two bills were part of the Constitution alteration bills transmitted to State Houses of Assembly for concurrence in 2022, they did not make it into the 35 bills that secured the required approval of 24 out of 36 states houses of assembly.
The Chairman of the Senate ad-hoc committee on constitutional review, Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege, declared that the approval of the Gombe assembly meant that the bills on Independent Candidacy and the inclusion of the National Assembly presiding officers in the National Security Council membership had met the provisions of Section 9(2) of the Constitution for passage.
The National Assembly previously submitted 35 Constitution alteration bills to the President for his signature. However, 19 were rejected, and 16 were signed into law. On May 2, the National Assembly approved a uniform retirement age for judicial officers after meeting the constitutional requirement.
Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Plateau and Taraba are yet to forward their resolutions on the Constitution Amendment Bills.
In summary, the Senate has approved the transmission of the Independent Candidacy Bill, alongside the inclusion of the National Assembly presiding officers in the National Security Council membership bill, for President Buhari’s signature. The Electoral Amendment Bill seeks to make the electoral process more inclusive while ensuring that the National Security Council has a diverse membership that reflects the realities of Nigeria’s federal character.
