Thirteen bills seeking to alter some sections of the 1999 Constitution passed second reading at the Senate yesterday.
The bills, sponsored by nine senators, have been referred to the Constitution Review Committee for further legislative action.
The review committee, chaired by Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, is expected to work on the bills with relevant stakeholders and submit report to the senate within four weeks.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that unlike other bills, which are usually debated before scaling second reading, a bill to alter the constitution goes through the stage without debate. The process of amending the Constitution was halted in 2015 following non-assent by former President Goodluck Jonathan to a bill on it passed by the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, a report on Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in accordance with Section 4(4) of NEITI Act 2007 and report of Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on Nigeria Food Security Bill 2016, were laid in the chamber yesterday. The report of Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND on Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, (Establishment etc) Bill, 2016 and report of Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND on Federal University, Wukari were also laid.