The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, on Saturday, reeled out the performance of the 10th House in the first six months, saying about 120 bills passed the second reading stage.
Disclosing that the House received and considered 962 bills, 500 motions, and 153 petitions, the speaker said another 120 bills have been referred to various committees for in-depth analysis.
Abbas who stated this at the vacation session/plenary of the lower chamber, said bills which have passed second reading are currently undergoing further review and refinement to address some of the concerns raised during the debates.
“Our legislative outputs in the last six months are remarkable. The House received and considered 962 bills, five 500 motions, and 153 petitions.
“Of these numbers, 120 bills have passed the second reading stage. They are currently undergoing further review and refinement to address some of the concerns raised during the debates”, he said.
Noting that the bouse have also successfully passed many other bills, which have been transmitted to the Senate for concurrence, the speaker said notable among these bills wrre the Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Federal Audit Service Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023, 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Oath Act (Repeal and Enactment) Bill, 2023.
Other critical bills passed by the House, according to the speaker include the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons Bill, 2023, Federal Fire and Rescue Service Bill, 2023, Administration of Criminal Justice Act (Repeal and Enactment) Bill, 2023, Niger Delta Development Commission Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023, Nigerian Medical Research Council (Establishment) Bill, 2023, Nigerian Peace Corps (Establishment) Bill, 2023 and more recently, the South East Development Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2023.
Abbas noted that the bills are intended to provide immediate relief and long-term solutions to the challenges that have plagued the society, adding that through these bills, “we aim to empower our citizens, enhance social justice, promote economic growth, and promote peace and security.”
He observed that the leadership of the 10th house had deliberately adopted a leadership model that is open, transparent, impartial and inclusive.
According to him, this approach is intended to enhance public trust and accountability, encourage participation, facilitate better decision-making, and promote new ideas to make the legislature more effective in discharging its constitutional mandate.
He said: “As we adjourn our plenary for the holidays, I want to take this opportunity to reflect on our achievements and express my hopes for the future.
“In the last six months, we have recorded some legislative landmarks that have the potential to impact the lives of our fellow citizens positively. In view of the importance of Committees to the operations of the House, we streamlined the mandates of committees to avoid overlap and conflicts.
“We swiftly appointed Chairmen and Deputies for all their committees and constituted the membership of these committees based on objective criteria to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.
“By so doing, we have rationalised the Membership of committees, leading to more informed decision-making, better management of workload, and improved legislative quality.”