Reps passed 41 bills in 2 years – Spokesperson

The House of Representatives has passed 41 Bills under the 9th Assembly, an official has confirmed.

Rep. Benjamin Kalu, the Spokesperson of the House, said the feat was recorded since they were inaugurated on June 11, 2019.

Kalu said this in a statement issued while presenting the report of its activities on Thursday in Abuja.

He stated that 853 bills had been considered by the House since it was inaugurated.

He scored the 9th House high in terms of performance in bill consideration and passage of bills than previous assemblies.

Kalu added that 66 bills were currently awaiting action by the Committee of the Whole, and 105 had passed the second reading, stressing that the House had so far considered 730 motions.

He said 484 were taken in the first session and 246 considered in the second session, stressing that several of the motions considered by the House were products of diligently conducted needs analysis.

This, according to him, reflect the will of the people in the exercise of its oversight responsibilities as stipulated in Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution.

He added that 98 of the resolutions had addressed various challenges in insecurity, while others addressed other socio-economic issues and performance issues by the executive.

Kalu said that 163 petitions were received by the House, which he said were all referred to the Committee on Public Petitions for consideration.

He said that the House had made significant progress in the consideration of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which he said had passed second reading after thorough debate.

According to him, the House is set to receive the report of the ad hoc committee on the PIB after which the bill will proceed for passage in line with the commitments of the House.

Kalu also said that substantial progress had been made on the Electoral Act amendment bill, adding that the bill addressed reform issues like electronic voting and funding of political parties.

According to him, the report of the relevant committee is currently before the House as the bill awaits passage.

He regretted that the precautions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the activities of the House committees.

The spokesman said that it became necessary to reduce the number of plenary sessions per week as well as other legislative activities requiring prolonged physical presence.

It was reported that the scorecard by the spokesperson was to mark the second annivesary of the 9th House.