Ninth House Passed 41 Bills in Two Years, Says Spokeman

Udora Orizu in Abuja

The Spokesman of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu has said the ninth House has passed a total of 41 Bills since they assumed office in June 2019.

This is as he disclosed that the House is set to receive the long-awaited report of the ad-hoc committee on Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) after which the legislation will proceed to passage.

Kalu who made this known in a statement, stated that a comparative analysis of the ninth House and previous assemblies, revealed that the current House performed better in bill considerations and passage.

According to him, as of June 10, 2021, the House had considered 853 bills, out of which 41 were passed, 66 awaiting action by the Committee of the Whole, and 105 passed second reading.

On motions, the Spokesman said so far, the House has considered a total of 730 motions, while 484 were taken in the first session, with 246 considered in the second session.

On electoral reforms, he said substantial progress has been made in the consideration of the much-anticipated Electoral Act (amendment) Bill, adding that the report of the relevant committee is currently before the House as the bill awaits passage.

Kalu said: “Some of the notable bills passed so far include the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (Amendment) Bill; the Physically Challenged (Empowerment) Bill; National Orientation Agency Act (Amendment) Bill; Labour Act (Amendment) Bill; Finance Bill; Students Loan (Access to Higher Education) Bill; Federal Roads Bill, 2019; Public Procurement Act (Amendment) Bill; the Company and Allied Matters Bill assented to by the President; the Finance Bill, 2020; the Deep Offshore Bill; and the Emergency Economic Stimulus Bill, 2020.

“The House has also made significant progress in the consideration of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which passed second reading after a thorough debate in November 2020. Meanwhile, a review of the 1999 Constitution is ongoing with the zonal public hearing taking place across the six geopolitical zones in the country. The House also received a total of 163 petitions all of which were referred to the Committee on Public Petitions for consideration.