Mr President Sign These 40 Bills Into Law Now

While delivering a lecture in Ibadan last week, the chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Information, Zakari Mohammed, said that 40 bills were awaiting President Goodluck Jonathan’s assent to become Acts of the National Assembly. This is a grave allegation that points to institutional friction between these two important arms of government. It also suggests that the Presidency enjoys ‘pocketing’ the Parliament. No democracy thrives where competition rather than cooperation rules the relationship between the executive and legislature.


While, since inception of the seventh session, the president has always been hesitant to sign private member bills passed by the National Assembly, he signs expeditiously all executive bills originating from the Presidency or from the Executive Council of the Federation, especially where there seems to be little or no interrogation or alteration of such by the Parliament. This gives the impression that the Presidency is only interested in subjugating the National Assembly and rendering it a mere rubber stamp of the executive arm.

Democracy is strengthened when private member bills sponsored by a senator or member of the House of Representatives and which often emanate from interaction with the citizens they represent are made law. We wonder why the Presidency was quick to sign bills like Transfer of Convicted Offenders Bill (2012) when it is reluctant to endorse welfarist bills like Occupational Safety and Health Bill, Court of Appeal Act, Authentication Act (Amendment) Bill 2012, Retirement Age of Staff of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Bill 2012, HYPERDEC Act, the National Health Bill and State of the Nation Address Bill, among others.

It is ridiculous that the Presidency sent back the State of the Nation Address Bill, for example, on grounds of perceived infraction of some constitutional provisions regarding separation of powers, when it should cover its head in shame for not allowing the lawmaking arm to do its work.

Parliament’s right to make laws will be better enhanced when the president learns not to withhold assent to duly passed legislation. Granted, the president can refuse to assent to bills forwarded to him in certain extenuating circumstances, but the National Assembly can also override such refusal of assent or veto. This is the road to avoiding institutional friction in governance and by extension, overheating the polity. The principle of checks and balances would be better served if both arms of government respect each other’s limits.

We urge the president to do ‘the needful’ by signing these 40 bills immediately. If he fails to do so, the National Assembly should expeditiously invoke its powers under section 58 (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), that states, “Where the President withholds his assent and the bill is again passed by each House by two-thirds majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall not be required.”