THE 10th House of Representatives has beaten records of some previous Assemblies, having received a total of 1, 188 Bills; 679 Motions and about 300 Petitions in one legislative session.
The present 10th House was constituted on June 13, 2023 with the election of Hon. Abbas Tajudeen and Benjamin Kalu as Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively.
The National Assembly is empowered by Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution (as altered) make laws for the stability, peace and progress of the country through instruments such as bills and motions.
Available records of the House performance in the year showed that out of a total of 1, 188 Bills, 243, representing 20.1 percent of the pieces of legislation have passed, 82 (7.0%) of them have passed third (final) reading.
Also, 238, representing 20.0 per cent of the Bills presented, have been referred to Standing Committees and Committees of the Whole for further legislative intervention in line with Order 12, Number 6 of the House Standing Order (as amended).
The records further showed that, of the total number of 1, 188 Bills received, 12 (1.0 %) were executive bills, while 1, 176 (99.0%) were members’ Bills, out of which 9 (11.0%) and 72 (88.0%) have been passed (third reading), respectively.
Analysis of the Bills processed in the first session of the 10th House indicated a performance over previous House of Representatives since 1999.
For instance, the 2023–2024 recorded legislative year recorded 1,188 Bills compared to 14 in 1999– 2000, 270 in 2011–2012, 685 in 2015–2016, and 853 in 2019–2020.
The Bills cut across the eight priority areas of the Abbas-led 10th House Legislative Agenda which broached on; strengthening good governance, improving national security, law reform, economic growth and development, social sector reform and development, inclusion and open parliament, influencing, foreign policy, as well as climate change and environmental sustainability.
Some important Bills passed during the first session and assented to by President Bola Tinubu include: Electric Power Sector Reform Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023; Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Service (Establishment) Bill, 2023; Federal Audit Service Bill, 2023; Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons Bill, 2023.
