The Legislative arm of the Nigerian government, comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives, is responsible for making laws in Nigeria. In this article, we’d discuss the steps the legislators of Nigeria’s National Assembly follow to make laws for the country.
Read on.
The process of lawmaking in Nigeria would be discussed below:
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Origination of the Bill
The origination of the bill is the first step of the lawmaking process. Bill here means, a draft of a proposed law. The legislators of the Nigerian National Assembly and the Executive arm of the government can initiate a bill. In the case of a bill being initiated by the Executive arm, it must be prepared and forwarded to the Senate President and Speaker with a cover letter from the President.
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Initial Review of the Bill
Immediately a bill is received in either of the legislative chambers (Senate or HOR), the head of the chamber (Senate Presiden or Speaker of the HOR) will then pass it on to the relevant committee. If the bill is received by the Senate, the Senate President forwards the bill to Committee on the Rules and Procedure. On the other hand, the Speaker forwards the bill to the Rules and Business Committee.
The committee then reviews the bill to determine if it satisfies all the standards to be for it to be presented on the floor of the chamber. In the situation where the bill does not meet the required standards, it would be passed to the legal department of the National Assembly to be re-drafted in line with the laid-down standards. When the bill is determined to be in line with all the requirements, the committee will set a day and time for the bill to be discussed in the House/Senate.
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Gazetting of Bill
The next stage after the committee has done the initial review of the bill is the gazetting of the bill. This is done to let the public know that a new piece of legislation is being considered so they can weigh in on the process.
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First Reading
On the date and time set by the committee during the initial review stage, the Clerk of the House/Senate reads the short title of the bill, then proceeds to ‘table’ it before the head of the chamber (Senate President or Speaker, as applicable). This stage is basically to officially let the legislators know that a particular bill has been introduced.
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Second Reading
In the case where the bill originates from the Executive arm of the Federal government, the head of the chamber (Senate President or Speaker, as the case may be) moves for the motion that the bill be read the second time. The other legislative chamber’s leader must support the motion.
When a legislator initiates a bill, s/he will have to move the motion that the bill be read the second time. Another legislature in the chamber where the bill is being read will have to support the motion to proceed to second reading. Without the motion being seconded (supported), the bill will be rejected.
With the support for the motion for the bill to be read the second time, the legislators where the bill is being read would debate and discuss the objectives, benefits and principles of the bill. Afterward, the legislators would vote if the bill would move to move the Committee stage or not. If the bill doesn’t get a majority vote, it is ‘Negatived’, meaning it can’t be discussed again.
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Committee Stage
In this stage of the lawmaking process, the bill is assigned to a committee that will examine it critically. Both legislative chambers have two types of committees that examine bills more critically. One is the Committee of the Whole House while the other is the Standing Committee (there are many standing committees).
During this stage, public hearings would be organized so that members of the public or experts interested in the bill can make contributions on any aspect of the bill. However, only a member of the committee can make amendments to the bill in line with the agreed-upon principles established at the second reading stage.
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Committee Report
After the committee assigned to the bill has critically examined every aspect of the bill, it will report back to the whole House/Senate in plenary. The chairperson of the committee will have to report progress on the bill via a motion. The Committee of the Whole House then deliberates on the report and a motion that the bill is read a third time may be moved.
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Third Reading
After a bill has passed the third reading, no amendment can be made to it. But in some circumstances, amendments can be done to a bill after it’s passed the third reading. However, any legislator who wishes to make suggest an amendment at this point must first move a motion for the bill to be “re-committed” to the previous stage. If the motion is accepted by the House/Senate, such a bill would be dissolved to discuss the amendments. The bill will proceed to the third reading stage once all the necessary amendments have been included.
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Clean Copy of the Bill
At this stage, a clean printed copy of the bill which contains all the amendments will be signed by the Clerk and endorsed by Speaker/Senate President. Then, a copy will be sent to the Clerk of the House/Senate as the case may be. Along with the clean copy of the bill that would be sent to the Clerk of the other legislative chamber is a message requiring the concurrence of the receiving chamber.
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Concurrence
Three potential outcomes can happen at this stage of the lawmaking process. The first is that the receiving chamber may accept the bill and pass it, then send it to the Clerk of the National Assembly. The other possible outcome is the receiving chamber does not agree with the bill and rejects it.
The third option is that the chamber may not agree with all provisions of the bill and then go ahead to make amendments. The originating chamber may agree to these amendments, but when otherwise, a “Conference Committee” of both chambers will be created to work out any disagreements. When both chambers eventually adopt the amendments from the Joint Conference Committee, a bill is then sent to the original legislative chamber. Thereafter, a clean copy of the bill is forwarded to the Clerk of the National Assembly.
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Enrolment of the Bill for the President’s Signature
Immediately after the Senate and the House of Representatives attain concurrence on the bill, the Clerk of the National Assembly enrolls the bill for the President to append his/her signature within 30 days.
The President may assent to the bill by signing the bill into law. If the President does not agree to the provisions of the bill, he may veto it by withholding his signature. But in such a circumstance, the President must provide the areas of the bill where he wants to be amended before he can sign the bill into law.
In the case where the President refuses to assent to the bill and the National Assembly disagrees with that decision, it can be upturned per the directives of the Constitution. For the President’s veto to be upturned, both legislative chambers would have to recall the bill and then re-pass it into law. This is, however, only possible when a two-thirds majority of both chambers vote in support of the bill to become law.