Lawan lobbies El-Rufai on constitutional amendment bills hanging in states

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan on Monday lobbied the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El Rufai, to prevail on his colleagues on the quick return of the bills on the constitution amendment to the National Assembly.

The National Assembly had in March passed 44 bills on the amendment of key provisions of the 1999 Constitution and transmitted the same to the 36 states for endorsement or otherwise.

The process requires the endorsement of at least two-thirds of the 36 state Houses of Assembly for any of the bills to sail through.

However, less than half of the states have so far transmitted their responses back to the National Assembly.

Lawan, who spoke at the Distinguished Parliamentarians Lecture 2022 organised by the National Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies(NILDS) in Abuja, urged the governors to transmit the bills back to the Senate in order to facilitate the amendment process.

READ ALSO: Lawan advocates inclusion of lessons against vote-buying in schools

He said: “We will ask you, Governor El Rufai, to lobby for us. We have sent to the states the outcome of our constitution review and we are yet to receive all from the states.

“So we should be able to wind up this process by getting responses from the state Houses of Assembly. Even if it is one month left, we have the capacity to work together to ensure that we pass some of the legislation that are required in a very expeditious manner.

“Lobby your governor colleagues because I can see that you do that very well.”

The Senate President noted the lecture was meant to bridge the gap between the electorates and their elected representatives.

He claimed the 9th Senate had performed creditably in the last three years.

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