1999 Constitution Amendment Bill: States reject LG autonomy

As NASS sends 35 amendment Bills to Buhari for assent

The National Assembly says 35 Constitution amendment Bills have been passed by the State’s Houses of Assemblies.

The Senate, yesterday, requested its Clerk to transmit the 35 Bills out of the 44 Constitution amendment Bills to President Muhammadu Buhari for his assent.

However, among the proposed legislations not approved by the State Houses of Assemblies are Bills seeking financial and legislative autonomy for local governments.

The resolution to transmit the Bills to Buhari for assent was passed at Tuesday’s plenary following the adoption of a Motion by Ovie Omo-Agege, deputy senate president, and 66 other lawmakers.

The lawmaker from Ekiti, Opeyemi Bamidele, who presented the report on the Bills, said the 35 Bills have been considered by 27 States’ Houses of Assembly, and have passed their resolutions to the National Assembly. 

The States are Abia, Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, and Edo. Others are Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Rivers, and Yobe.

The legislator said the 35 bills have satisfied the provisions of the Constitution for passage into law because it has been approved by not less than 24 State Houses of Assembly.

The upper legislative chamber requested Gombe, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, and Zamfara State Houses of Assemblies — which are yet to send their reports on the Bills — to forward their resolutions.

Recall that in March 2022, the Senate and House of Representatives voted on Bills seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution. The red and green chambers agreed on some of the Bills and differed on others, while a total of 44 Bills were transmitted to the state houses of assembly.

According to sections 9(2) and (3) of the 1999 Constitution, two-thirds of all the State Assemblies — 24 states — are required for each amendment to be approved.

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