House Moves to Ensure Accuracy of Bills Before Presidential Assent

Juliet Akoje in Abuja

The House of Representatives has moved to prevent discrepancies in bills passed by the National Assembly by mandating a stricter verification process before they are transmitted to the President for assent.

Owing to this, the House has resolved to revert all authenticated bills to the Clerks of the Senate and House of Representatives respectively for confirmation before final transmission to the President for assent.

The lawmakers also resolved to ensure that the Clerks of both Houses verify the authenticity and accuracy of bills passed and forwarded to the President, certifying that no alterations or errors had occurred during the process to ensure that the process was made mandatory for all bills, including the constitution alteration bills, to guarantee the integrity and legitimacy of the legislative process.

The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion on the ‘Confirmation of Authenticated Bills Before Transmission to the President for Assent to Ensure Legislative Integrity and Accuracy,’ moved by Hon. Sada Soli at plenary yesterday.

Soli, while presenting the motion noted that the discrepancies in some bills passed by the National Assembly, alleging that certain provisions were not identical with the original bill passed by both the Senate and House of Representatives.

He also noted that the President’s recent decline to assent to a bill due to errors underscored the need for meticulous verification.

He stressed that all bills passed by the National Assembly are usually forwarded to the Clerk of the National Assembly for authentication, in accordance with the provisions of the Authentication Act.

“Adopting the Resolution of the House, the House of Representatives will demonstrate its commitment to transparency, accountability, and the rule of law, ultimately strengthening the legislative process and reinforcing public trust in the National Assembly,” he added.