States reject LG autonomy as n’assembly sends 35 consitution amendment bills to Buhari for assent

The national assembly says 35 constitution amendment bills have been passed by state assemblies.

The senate, on Tuesday, asked the clerk to transmit the 35 bills out of the 44 constitution amendment bills to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.

Among the proposed legislations not approved by the state 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.

Opeyemi Bamidele, lawmaker from Ekiti, who presented the report on the bills, said the 35 bills have been considered by 27 state houses of assembly.

The lawmaker said the 27 states that have passed their resolutions on the bills to the national assembly 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 asked 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.

BACKGROUND

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.

In October 2022, while providing update on the constitutional amendment bills, Omo-Agege said only 11 states voted on the bills.

Omo-Agege, who is the chairperson of the senate constitution review committee, accused some governors of frustrating the efforts of the constitutional amendment process through the speakers of the state houses of assembly.

The deputy senate president said the remaining 25 states threatened to take no action on the bills unless four bills — including state police and state judicial council — are considered by the national assembly.