As the 8th National Assembly officially winds up today, June 6, ahead of June 11 inauguration of the 9th NASS, Newsflash247 has taken pain to research and compile the number of bills passed by each Senate starting from the 5th Senate till date.
Find below, the number of bills passed by each Senate as compiled by Newsflash247
8th Senate: 318
7th Senate: 128
6th Senate: 72
5th Senate: 129
We have also documented some key bills passed by the red chamber but declined by the Muhammadu Buhari led administration.
Key Bills Declined Assent By President Buhari
1. Electoral Amendment Bill:
– Rejected four times.
–
The last reason being that if signed into law, it was going to be
injurious to the recently concluded general elections. According to the
president, some of the proposed amendments may adversely affect the
operation of elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC).
He also said the bill had the unintended consequence of
leaving INEC with only nine days to collate and compile lists of
candidates and political parties as well as manage the primaries of the
91 political parties for the various elections.
2. Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB): Cited legislative drafting concerns and ambiguity. As well as saying that expanding the scope of Petroleum Equalisation Fund were in divergence from his administration’s policy. As well as permitting the Petroleum Regulatory Commission to retain as much as 10 per cent of the revenue generated would put a burden on the three tiers of government.
3. Bill Seeking to Amend the Constitution for an annual State of the Nation Address by the President:
Buhari
said Section 7 of the bill might need to be redrafted to clearly
indicate that it is Section 109 (1) (e) of the Constitution that was
being amended.
“Also, there are existing laws that cater for
legislative Service Commissions. Finally, prescribing a specific date in
the 1999 Constitution for an annual State of the Nation Address may
create practical challenges in diarizing this event”, he said.
4. Industrial Development (Income Tax Relief) Amendment Bill:
The
president claimed that he took the action to enable ongoing
consultations by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment
with relevant agencies on tax holidays incentive regime for expansion
projects, investments in rural areas as well as for
agriculture/agro-processing to be included.
5. Immigration (Amendment) Bill:
The
president claimed that he did so because it will have adverse effect on
Nigeria’s position on the Ease of Doing Business ranking.
6. Chartered Institute of Pension Practitioners Bill:
The president claimed that this Bill amounted to the duplication of the functions of an existing body.
7. Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (Amendment) Bill:
President
Buhari claimed that because the bill will interfere with and obstruct
the smooth administration of revenue generating agencies of the Federal
Government aside other infractions on extant laws.
He added that if
signed into law, the bill will confer the powers of oversight of the
revenue currently vested in the President and the Minister of Finance on
the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission and negate
the existing provisions of Section 51 of the Federal Inland Revenue
Service.
8. Maritime Security Operations Bill:
The president
claimed that he refused assent because the proposed amendments will
distort and duplicate the functions and operations of the Nigerian
Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
9. Bankruptcy and Insolvency Bill: Cited drafting errors.
10. Small and Medium Enterprise Agency Bill:
President
Buhari declined assent by claiming that “The Agency will have similar
objectives to the Bank of Industry particularly with regard to the
funding of Small and Medium Enterprises.”
11. Energy Commission (Amendment) Bill:
Buhari
claimed that its provisions infringe on the Rural Electrification
Agency’s power and mandates with particular reference to the promotion
and development of un-served and under-served rural communities across
Nigeria.
12. Federal Roads Authority (Establishment) Bill:
President claimed that it would make the entire technical supervisory ministry, the Transportation Ministry, redundant.
13. Transport Commission Bills:
President
claimed that he was declining assent because “safety regulatory
provisions enshrined in some sections of the bill, which are technical
in nature, fall within the purview of central legislations implemented
by agencies like NIMASA, NPA, NIWA and therefore should be expunged from
the bill.
14. Ajaokuta Steel Company Completion Fund Bill:
President
claimed that appropriating $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account for
funding the project as stipulated in the bill was not the best
strategic option for Nigeria at this time of budgetary constraints. He
stressed that Nigeria could not afford to commit such an amount in the
midst of competing priorities with long term social and economic impact
that the funds can be attentively deployed towards.
15. National Housing Fund Bill
16. Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria Bill 2018
17. Nigerian Aeronautical Search and Rescue Bill
18. National Biotechnology Development Agency Bill
19. National Institute of Credit Administration Bill
20. Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria Bill
21. Chartered Institute of Training and Development of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill
22. Nigerian Film Commission Bill
23. Climate Change Bill
24. Chartered Institute of Pension Practitioners Bill
25. Digital Rights and Freedom Bill
26. Stamp Duties (Amendment) Bill
27. National Research and Innovation Council (Est.) Bill
28. Chattered Institute of Entrepreneurship (Est.) Bill
29. Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences (Amendment) Bill
30. Subsidiary Legislation (Legislative Scrutiny) Bill
31. National Broadcasting Commission Amendment Bill
32. National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) Act (Amendment) Bill,
33. Federal Polytechnics Act (Amendment) Bill.
