Senate to vote on 70 Constitution amendment bills March 1

Senate will on Tuesday, March 1, vote on bills to amend the 1999 Constitution. There are 70 of such bills. A report to that effect will be presented to the Senate today for adoption.

Deputy President of the Senate and chairman of the Senate Committee on Review of the Constitution, Ovie Omo-Agege, who disclosed this at the commencement of Senate’s session, yesterday, urged all senators to be present to facilitate the voting exercise.

According to him, the voting requires a very large number of senators to be present because some of the bills wouldn’t be passed if the chamber fails to muster, at least, two-third majority votes.

He also hinted that some other bills contained in the report would require four-fifth majority votes. Sources close to the Constitution Review Committee disclosed that about 70 bills have been received and deliberated upon by the committee, while close to 400 memoranda were received.

It was learnt that the most controversial among the bills to be voted on include those seeking creation of state police and financial autonomy for local governments.

As the Senate prepares to vote on the bills, labour leaders are mobilising their members against alleged move to devolve labour matters to states by removing it from the exclusive legislative list of the Constitution.

Last week, President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, visited the leadership of the amendment committee and warned against the move.