Amendment bills: 25 Houses of Assembly have voted, says Saraki

The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, on Monday announced on his social media platforms that 25 out of the 36 states of the federation had voted on the Constitution amendment bills passed by the National Assembly in July 2017.

The Senate President wrote, “I am excited about the news that 25 out of the 36 states have voted on the #ConstitutionReview amendments that the 8th National Assembly passed in 2017.

“In 2015, when we first started the ambitious process to review the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we never could have imagined the level of support and participation that we would get from all of you: everyday Nigerians, members of the civil society and political actors across the country.

“This is why the passage of the #ConstitutionReview amendments in 25 states across the country is a pat on the back of legislators at both the federal and state levels because it shows that with the right vision and follow-through, we can achieve anything as a nation.

“Make no mistake, this is another #PromiseKept by the 8th National Assembly and it further demonstrates that despite our differences, politicians from various walks of life and various parties can still come together to get things done.”

Saraki added, “Moving forward, I cannot wait to receive the #ConstitutionReview documents at the National Assembly so that we can move forward with the process of getting them assented to and cemented in the laws of our great Federal Republic.

“Now that both the Nigerian Senate and the House of Representatives have set up a joint committee to review the #ConstitutionReview amendments that did not sail through initially, we are encouraged with the level of collaboration that we have already seen from the state Houses of Assembly throughout this process.”

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review had formulated 33 bills, with 29 concurrently passed by both chambers while four were rejected by either of the two.