Kenneth Udeh from Abuja
The Nigerian Senate has voted in favour of Local Government Administrative and financial Autonomy to separate local government and state Bank accounts during Tuesday’s plenary .
The Senate during Tuesday’s voting on the Report of the committee on constitutional review on the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Alteration bills , 2022 voted in favour of both bills.
According to the results of the votes ,Bill No 1 (22) which is on Local Government financial received 92 votes out of 94 registered Senators while Bill No 2 which is on Local Government Administrative Autonomy got 88 votes from Senators on favour of its passage.
The senate and the house of representatives on Tuesday commenced the voting process on the fifth alteration of the 1999 constitution.
The voting which is ongoing commenced immediately after Ovie Omo-Agege, deputy president of the senate and chairman of the review of the constitution, is presented a report on the amendment.
Lawan has earlier announced that only bills that are passed in both chambers of the national assembly will be sent to the state houses of assembly.
His words:
“For today’s exercise, we will use electronic voting. We have tested the system and it is working,” the senate president said.
“Omo-Agege will present the report. We will listen to his presentation and we can take comments and we will thereafter go into the voting process.
“I will announce the bill then we will take it as it is presented in the report and senators will each register with our cards.
”It will take us 30 seconds to vote. You will press the button for registration. Then there is registration, ‘Yes, no and abstain’. Voting will take another 30 seconds.
“If you don’t vote within 30 seconds, you have lost your vote. If a bill passes in the senate and the house, such bill would have passed in the national assembly and will be sent to states.
“If a bill passes in the senate but fails to pass in the house, that bill is dead – and vice versa.”
Meanwhile voting on other bills in the proposed amendment is still ongoing!!!
Details later