The Lagos State House of Assembly said it had transmitted its resolution on the Fifth Alteration Bill 2022 (1999 Constitution Amendment) to the National Assembly.
It would be recalled that the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr Amos Ojo, had on March 31, transmitted the 44 passed constitutional alteration bills to the 36 state assemblies for their concurrence.
The Abia State House of Assembly on June 8, became the first state assembly in Nigeria to pass the Alteration of the 1999 constitution Amendment Bill into law, leading to full financial and administrative autonomy for the state legislature, judiciary, and local governments.
However, the Lagos Assembly said it had sent its input on the alteration bills, including the reasons for the positions the House took concerning the bills to the National Assembly.
“The Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday during plenary put into consideration its input on the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) (Fifth Alteration) Bill, 2022. At the end of the consideration, the Lagos State House of Assembly rejected sections 1, 2, 26, 27, 52, and 66 of the 44 bills received by the assembly,” the Chairman, House of Assembly Committee on Information, Mr Setonji David, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday.
Also speaking, the Majority Leader, Mr Sanai Agunbiade, explained that the segments of the bills the state lawmakers approved were a product of the fact that in respect of the alteration, they had been exposed to workshops and conferences to give them the understanding which facilitated the quick passage with a bit of the fewer areas they cited.
The National Assembly had on March 1, voted on the 68 amendments recommended by the Joint Senate and House of Representatives’ Special Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.
To amend a clause in the Constitution, a two-thirds or four-fifth majority of each of the Senate and the House has to approve the amendment before its transmission to the state houses of assembly, where two-thirds or 24 of the 36 of them have to concur.
Meanwhile, the management of the National Assembly has said the feedback on the resolutions of the amendment of the 1999 Constitution from the states so far has been positive.
Speaking in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, the Special Adviser on Media and Labour to the Clerk to the National Assembly, Austen Adesoro, explained that no deadline had been set for the submission of the resolutions, adding, however, that the National Assembly had developed a framework to guide its activities on the constitution review.
“There is no deadline with submissions from the state just as the Constitution review committee of NASS does not have a deadline but just a framework to guide its activities. There is no certainty on the number of states so far but they are coming in; I am not certain about the number now, but it has been positive so far.”
