News Post

In exercise of his constitutional powers of assenting to any legislation passed by the National Assembly, President Muhammadu Buhari has declined assent to the recently passed Independent National Electoral Commission Act (Amendment etc.) 2018. The President notified the Upper Legislative Chamber of his decision via an Executive Communication read on the floor of the Chamber by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

President Buhari cited three reasons for withholding assent to INEC Amendment Bill that include:

a) The amendment of election sequence by the National Assembly tends to infringe on the mandate of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

b) The deletion of two major clauses of the INEC Principal Act was equally opposed by the President.

c) The attempt by the National Assembly to legislate on the Local Government Area elections also infringed on the responsibilities of the State Houses of Assembly.

Meanwhile, Sen. Rafiu Ibrahim Adebayo (Kwara South) rose under point of order 42 and 52 to draw the attention of the Senate to a pending request by President Muhammadu Buhari seeking for the screening and confirmation of two nominees for appointment as Deputy Governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Sen. Adebayo informed the Chamber that the delay in the confirmation of the nominees has prevented the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to form a quorum for its quarterly meetings which assesses, review and make policy decisions concerning Nigeria’s economy; a situation that has negative impact on the economy and hindered the trust and confidence of foreign investors.

Ruling on the matter, the Senate unanimously approved the screening of the two nominees and referred it to the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions for further scrutiny and report back as quickly as possible.

Similarly, the Red Chamber has debated and passed for second and third reading two Concurrence Bills and a third one that originate from the Senate. The three legislation passed into law were:

1) Digital Right and Freedom Bill, 2018 (H.B. 490), sponsored by the Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North). The Bill having originated from the House of Representatives has been passed into law by the Green Chamber hence the need for Senate concurrence.

2) Energy Commission Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018 (H. B. 72 & 446), sponsored by the Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North). The two legislation were consolidated into one having originated and passed into law by the House of Representatives hence the need for Senate concurrence. 

3) Federal University, Gashua (Establishment, etc.) Bill, 2018 (S.B. 459), sponsored by Sen. Barau Jibrin (Kano North). The Report on the legislation was presented before the Chamber for consideration by the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND. 

The Chamber resolved into the Committee of the Whole where clauses 1 – 26, schedules 1, 2 &3, explanatory memorandum of understanding, short and long titles of the Bill were approved as recommended or amended. Thereafter, it was read the third time and passed.

However, the Senate has equally deliberated upon and passed three Motions. The Motions that got the nod of the Chamber include:

1) The need to exercise Constitutional Powers of the National Assembly to Ratify Treaties entered into by Nigeria, sponsored by Sen. Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Kebbi South). According to Sen. Na’Allah, Section 12 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) provided that no treaty between the Federal Government and any country shall have the force of law except to the extent to which any such treaty has been enacted into law by the National Assembly. Sen. Na’Allah disclosed that out of the over 250 United Nations Treaties, Conventions, Charters and Protocols alone which Nigeria is a party to, over 50 have not been ratified while many others require succession, signature, acceptance or notification. The Motion scaled through with four resolutions below:

i) Direct the Federal Ministry of Justice to produce a comprehensive record of all treaties that were entered into by Nigeria, those that were ratified by the National Assembly, those that are yet to be presented for ratification by the Executive and many others that require different forms of action by the relevant institutions of government responsible for treaty management in Nigeria.

ii) Direct the Federal Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs to establish a comprehensive database on status and management of treaties in Nigeria.

iii) Urge the Executive to submit all Bills on all outstanding treaties that require ratification by the National Assembly.

iv) Mandate the Senate Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters and Foreign Affairs to liaise with the relevant Ministries affected by the resolution to facilitate collation of the documents and report back to the Senate in four weeks.

2) The Need for Sustainable Tourism Policy in Nigeria, sponsored by Sen. Fatimat Raji-Rasaki (Ekiti Central). The Motion sailed through with four prayers below:

i) Mandate the Senate Committee on Information and Culture to consider summoning the Minister of Information and Culture to brief the Committee on the performance of the Culture and Tourism sector and the efforts being made to reposition the sector as a major Foreign Exchange earner and report back within two weeks.

ii) Call on the Federal Government to adopt a comprehensive sustainable tourism policy with a view to showcasing tourism as an important tool for economic diversification; conversation of natural resources and creation of employment.

iii) Call on the Federal Government to consider de-merging ‘culture and tourism’ from the Federal Ministry of Information to ensure effective implementation of a sustainable tourism policy that would ensure optimum realization of the recognized potentials of the tourism sector to the nation’s economy.

iv) Call on the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Federal Ministry of Health to intensify surveillance and monitoring of tourism traffic to forestall cross border crimes and epidemics at Nigeria’s international borders.

3) Urgent need for the declaration of State of Emergency in Public Health Sector over the decay in infrastructure, sponsored by Sen. Suleiman O. Hunkuyi (Kaduna North). The Motion was passed with three resolutions below:

i) Urge the Executive to declare a State of Emergency in the Public Health Sector in the country.

ii) Urge the Executive to provide special funding for the overhaul of at least one Government Owned Medical Facility in each of the six geo-political zones of the country every year.

iii) The funding should be captured in the 2018 budget currently before the National Assembly.