Nigeria's National Assembly Complex
A lawless land will always result in chaos because the residents will do just what seems good in their own sight and it is in order to avoid such, that countries have what is called a legislative body also known as a law-making body.
In Nigeria, the law-making body
is composed of a Senate (Upper House)
and a House of Representatives (Lower House).
Both houses can also be jointly referred to as the National Assembly and all members
of both the upper and lower houses are elected to these positions.
Each of the states that make up
our Federal Republic are subdivided into Senatorial Districts and Federal
Constituencies and each District and Constituency is entitled to electing one
person each to the Senate and House of Representatives respectively. In total
we have 109 seats for Senate members and 360 for members of the House of
Representatives.
The first step in the process of enacting
new laws is Bill Initiation which involves drafting the proposed bill and sponsorship by either
the executive or a member of the legislature. The major stakeholders and other
processes involved in passing a new bill are discussed below:
The Executive
A quick history of successful
bills passed by the National Assembly since 1999 shows a majority of these
bills were first proposed by the executive arm of government. The draft bill is
usually put together based on a directive by the President or it originates
from one of the MDAs (Ministry, Department, Agency) of the Federal Government. In
either case, the bill bears the signature of the President and it is usually
submitted to both houses for their consideration.
In addition to being able to play
the role of a bill sponsor, the executive is also the last stop for all bills
that have been passed by the National Assembly. Based on Nigeria's law-making
process, the National Assembly is expected to send bills passed on the floor of
the houses to the President for his/her assent and once the President signs,
the bill effectively becomes law in Nigeria.
The Legislative
When a bill is introduced before
any of the houses, it undergoes a first reading and then committee consideration. After this, a second reading is held and the bill might be referred again to the appropriate committee. The committee is charged
with debating the merits & demerits of the draft bill, organising public
hearings so the general public and all interested persons/groups can come
forward to make presentations and/or submissions on the content of the bill.
After this stage, the bill is
read a third time on the floor of the house and following debates and
amendments, a vote is taken. If majority of the members present vote in favour
of the bill, then it has been successfully passed.
When a bill is passed by one of
houses, it must be sent to the other house where it goes through the same
process and after both houses have passed the bill, it is then sent to the
President for his assent.
Should the President delay or refuse assent (veto)
the bill, the Assembly invoking its powers may pass the law by two-thirds of both chambers
and overrule the veto and the President's consent will not be required.
Civil Society & General
Public
Civil society are often involved
from the very beginning of initiating and drafting a bill for a specific cause
or issue. This could be because no law exists to deal with the issue, the
current laws are outdated or were passed by the military thus not enforceable
in a democratic governance system.
Civil Society organisations or
individuals on their own can draft a bill and seek sponsorship from a member of
the Senate or House of Representative since only a member of the National
Assembly can introduce a bill on the floor of the Senate or House of
Representatives. When public hearings are called by the committees of the
National Assembly, private citizens can make submissions either as individuals
or groups with the aim of showing strong support for the bill or influencing
the content of the bill before it is passed into law.
Other avenues for this group to participate
directly in the law-making process is by engaging members of the National
Assembly and the executive in order to make them aware of the stand and views
of the electorate on the bill being debated.
In a bid to sensitize and involve
the general public in the process of advocating for comprehensive Tobacco
Control (TC) laws compliant with the World Health Organization’s Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a social media policy change campaign
will be officially launched in Lagos, Nigeria on August 21, 2013.
By the end of the launch, we will
let you know all the different creative and exciting avenues in which you can
help protect the health of present and coming generations of Nigerians from
the scourge of tobacco smoke.
Meanwhile, we urge you to lend
your voice to this campaign & join us NOW by signing up as a
Tobacco
Control Cause Champion. Simply send your 1) Name, 2) Email address, 3)
Telephone No and 4) Location to
info(at)socialresponsibilitymanagers.org. Signing up will get you a
chance to have a specially designed Facebook, Twitter and G+ profile
banner graced with Stella Damasus' picture.
You should
also actively participate in the discussions presently ongoing on the
following social media platforms:
- Twitter:
Follow @TobaccoCtrl
- Facebook:
Visit and like Tobaccoctrl
- Google
Plus: add Tobaccoctrl to your circle
- 2go: add
Tobaccoctrl
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