Senate urges clerk to transmit independent candidacy bill to Buhari

The Senate has directed the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA) to transmit Constitution alteration bill No. 58 to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent, in line with the provisions of the Authentication Act.

The bill sought to provide for Independent Candidacy in presidential, governorship, national and states Houses of Assembly and local government councils elections.

Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, in a motion during Tuesday’s plenary, said that Gombe State House of Assembly had approved the Constitution Alteration Bill Nos. 46 and 58 and forwarded its resolution to the National Assembly.

Consequently, the upper chamber directed the clerk to transmit to the President, Constitution amendment bill No. 46.

The bill sought to include the presiding officers of the National Assembly in the membership of the National Security Council.

The two bills were part of the Constitution alteration bills transmitted to State Houses of Assembly for concurrence in 2022, but not part of the 35 that secured the required approval of 24 out of 36 states houses of assembly.

Omo-Agege, also the Chairman of the Senate ad hoc committee on constitutional review, said that with the approval of the Gombe assembly, the bills on the independent candidacy and inclusion of National Assembly presiding officers in the National Security Council membership had met the provisions of Section 9(2) of the Constitution for passage.

Supreme reports that the National Assembly had earlier transmitted 35 Constitution alteration bills to the President for assent out of which 19 were rejected and 16 signed into law.

On May 2, the national assembly approved a uniform retirement age for judicial officers after it met the Constitutional requirement.

The state houses of assembly that were yet to forward their resolutions on the Constitution amendment bills were Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Plateau and Taraba.