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Constitutional Amendment: KWHA blazes trail on passage of Not-Too-Young-To-Run Bill

 

The Kwara State House of Assembly has blazed the trail as the first state of House Assembly to pass the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Bill in the country.
The feat was achieved yesterday when the lawmakers resumed plenary to consider the constitutional amendment bill which was transmitted to it by the National Assembly in the ongoing Constitutional Amendment.
It also attracted the commendation of the senate president and leader of the APC in the state, Dr Bukola Saraki who responded personally through his tweeter handle.
“Great to see the Kwara State House of Assembly take the lead on the passage of the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Bill and other constitutional amendment. Kudos to speaker Ali Ahmad and the Honourable members”, the tweet added.
Ahmad is the chairman Conference of Speaker’s Constitution Review Committee.
11 other bills scaled the lawmakers hurdle in the fifteen that was considered by the legislature while four including the local government autonomy bill among others, were deferred until a public hearing were conducted for stakeholders’ inputs to ensure very quality and enduring decision.
The remaining bills that were passed by the legislature included the Financial Autonomy for the State Legislature, Legislative immunity for words said on the floor during plenary, Power of the Independent National Electrical Commission (INEC) to conduct bye- Election and Critical Amendment to facilitate fast dispensation of cases at the Supreme Court of Nigeria and other Courts.
The Bills also include the Single Tenure for a Person who concludes another Person’s Tenure in the office as President or Governor, as it happenned in the case of former President Goodluck Jonathan, as well as removal of “Force” from the name of the Nigerian Police Force.
The House equally passed Preview of Election Matters, President Assent, Limitation of the Time to Present Budget of the Federation and States to ensure early passage of Appropriation bill, into law for early implementation.
However, the legislature deferred its final decision on Abrogation of State Joint Local Government (JAAC) Account, Autonomy for Local Government, Independent Candidature and Establishment of the National Security and Civil Defense Corps Bills, to give more opportunity to stakeholders and members of the public to gauge their inputs and address their concerns.
It would be recalled that the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), had during its peaceful rallies across the country, expressed concern, saying that the future of Basic Education in the country, would be in jeopardy in the hands of Local Government Councils.
In his remarks after the passage of the Bills, the Speaker, Dr Ali Ahmad thanked members for working tirelessly and reflecting the views of majority of the people of Kwara state on various national and constitutional issues.
The Speaker then urged the National Assembly, to expedite action in forwarding other Bills in the Constitutional Amendment, especially on Devolution of Powers, to the State Houses of Assembly for their inputs.

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