Reps to vote on constitution amendment bills December 9

The house of representatives will commence voting on the constitution amendment bills on December 9.

Benjamin Kalu, the deputy speaker and chairman of the constitution review committee, announced the date during Tuesday’s plenary.

He said the green chamber will debate the bills on Wednesday and Thursday, while voting will take place on December 9 and 10.

The house initially fixed October 14 for voting on the bills.

The constitution alteration bills include electoral and judicial reforms, inclusive governance, security and state policing, devolution of powers, strengthening of institutions, traditional institutions, fiscal reforms, citizenship and indigenisation, fundamental human rights, and local government autonomy.

Sections 9(2) and (3) of the 1999 constitution require two-thirds of all the state assemblies — 24 states — to approve the amendment bills.

In recent years, there have been demands to amend the constitution to restructure the country; in other words, to devolve more powers to state and local governments.

The last amendment to the 1999 constitution (fifth alteration) took place in 2023, with former President Muhammadu Buhari signing 16 of the bills into law on March 17.

The bills covered financial independence for state houses of assembly and the state judiciary, and the removal of railways, prisons, and electricity from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list.

As the house of representatives prepares to vote on the bills, attention is on its decision-making process — especially after the controversial approval of the Rivers state emergency rule earlier in the year, passed by both chambers via voice votes despite the requirement of a confirmable two-thirds majority of section 305 of the constitution.