25 Nigerian States Refuse To Vote On Constitution Amendment Bills, Give Reasons
The Evangelist edition
October 18, 2022
By QueenEsther IROANUSI
Only 11 of Nigeria’s 36 state legislatures have considered and voted on the 44 constitution amendment bills passed by the National Assembly earlier in the year.
The states whose houses of assembly have voted on the bills are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun and Osun states.
This comes about six months after the bills were passed and transmitted to the states for their legislative votes.
Twenty-five other states have failed to consider the bills. The states have threatened to take no action on the bills unless four more constitutional amendment bills are considered and passed by the National Assembly.
The four are bills to:
*Establish State Police;
*Establish State Judicial Council;
*Streamline the procedure for removing Presiding Officers of State Houses of Assembly; and,
*Institutionalise Legislative Bureaucracy in the Constitution.
These demands were contained in a letter from the Conference of Speakers to the National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitutional Review.
The Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, made this known in a press conference on Tuesday.
He also accused some state governors of interfering in the affairs of state assemblies and turning state lawmakers into puppets for their selfish gains.