Legislative Process In Nigeria

Legislative process is the process whereby laws are made. Section 58 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, provides for legislative process in the National Assembly. The power of the National Assembly to make laws shall be exercised by Bills passed by both the senate and the House of Representatives and assented to by the President except where the President withholds his assent. The process that a Bill must pass through to become law includes:
1. The First Reading: The Bill at this stage is read for the first time by its sponsor and the leaflets of the bill are circulated for the legislators to take home and study.
2. The Second Reading: At this stage, the bill’s sponsor would explain the bill to the House who would debate on it and pass a resolution. Also members of the legislative house deliberate on the merits and the demerits of the Bill. If a simple majority pass a resolution to refer it to one of its committees then it scales to the next stage. If not, then, it dies a natural death here.
3. The Committee Stage: Here, the committee of the House in charge of the Bill would meet to have a detailed examination and debate on the bill after which amendments are made. All the amendments made, reflect the decision the House arrived at the second reading,.
4. The Report Stage: At this stage, the bill along with its amendments is tendered by the House Committee to the House, where it would be read for the third time.
5. The Third Reading: The Bill is read for the third time, and thereafter, the House is expected to vote on the bill. Once the Bill is passed by the House in which it was introduced, it would be referred to the House’s legal draftsmen to prepare the “clean copy”.
6. The Clean Copy: A clean printed copy of the Bill containing the amendments is signed by the Clerk of the House and endorsed by the Speaker or Senate President. The copy is then forwarded to the clerk of the other house (where applicable).
7. Concurrence: When a Bill is sent to either chamber for concurrence, there are three potential outcomes:
The receiving chamber may agree with the provisions of the Bill and therefore pass it and the bill is sent to the Clerk of the National Assembly.
The receiving chamber may not agree with the bill at all and therefore reject it in its entirety.
The chamber may not agree to some parts of the bill and therefore make amendments. If the amendments are not agreeable to it, a conference committee of both chambers will be constituted to work out any disagreement. If both chambers adopt the report from the committee, the Bill is then sent to the Clerk of the originator chamber for a clean copy.
8. The Assent: The President or Governor would assent to the billl within 30 days, and it becomes a law. But where the President or Governor withholds assent to same, the National Assembly or House of Assembly can proceed to veto or override it by two third majority.

Nkechi Bright – Ewere