Stages In The Process Of Law Making In Nigeria

In this article i will extensively explain the the process of passing a bill into law in Nigeria. If you have been stuffing the internet to know how laws are made in Nigeria, this is the right post for you to read. I enjoin you to read painstakingly as I will carefully explain every stage.

After conducting a lot of keyword research and opinion pulls on the street last week, I found that many Nigeria's do not know how laws are made in the country. A man ignorantly told me that it is even the president that is responsible for all the harsh local and federal laws in Nigeria.

This is not really good as a citizen of Nigeria. I mean, the procedure for making laws in Nigeria is something every Nigerian should know. It doesn't matter whether you attended formal education or not. It is incumbent on you to know the process of law making in your country.

Well, knowing fully well that many citizens don't really know the process of law making in Nigeria, i thought it wise to make a comprehensive article, explaining the different stages in the process of law making in Nigeria. In other words, i will be teaching you the stages of law making in Nigeria today. But before, going into the crux of this article, i would like to define some terms that will help you understand when i start to explain them.

What is a bill?

Wikipedia postulates that a bill is proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature. It does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act of the legislature, or a statute.

In short and simple English, a bill is a proposed law to be discussed in the parliament in order to become law. There are basically two types of bills viz: public bills and the private bills.

Public bills may be initiated by a Minister, in which case they are referred to as “government bills”. They may also be initiated by private Members, in which case they are called “private Members’ bills”. On the other hand, the purpose of a private bill is to exempt a person or group of persons, including a corporate person, from the application of a statute.

Stages for passing a bill into law in Nigeria

Below are the stages in the process of law making in Nigeria:

First reading:

At this stage, the draft of the bill is presented to the clerk of the house. It will be printed in leaflet and circulated to all members. Members of the parliament will be notified about the presence of such bill by the clerk and the date for second reading will be fixed.

Second reading:

Apparently, this is the second stage in the process of law making in Nigeria. At this stage, the person that introduced the bill to the house will explain the purpose of the bill to the house. Members will then debate on the bill, whether to be read second time or not. If voted in favour, the bill will move to the next stage. It should be noted however, that amendment is not entertained at this stage.

Committee stage:

This the the third and very important stage in the passing of bills into law in Nigeria. Here, the bill is referred to the a committee. It can be a committee of the whole house or standing committee depending on the importance of the bill. Amendment is made to the bill at this stage and then, it will be moved to the next stage.

Report stage:

The report stage will immediately follow the committee stage. Here, the findings of the committee will be reported to the house after all the amendments have been made. Conversely, the amended form of the bill will be read by the Chairman of the committee on that day.

Third reading:

This is the final stage of the bill with the parliament and a thorough attention is given to the bill in order to correct all error with draft. Now, a final vote is also given to the bill and if the house agrees, it will move to the last stage. This house will also make sure that passing such bill will not bring about an obnoxious law into the Nigerian legal system.

Assent:

A duly passed bill by the house will now be sent to the president for his assent. When the president assents to the bill, it will automatically become a law and it will be binding on every citizen of Nigeria.

It should be noted however, that where the president fails to give his assent within 30 days, the parliament can automatically make that bill a law if it is passed in the same form it was sent to the President by two-third majority vote in both Chambers (sanate and representatives).

Conclusion:

Yeah! That is all I have on the process of passing a bill into law in Nigeria. It is very pivotal that you know these stages as a citizen of Nigeria. Even if you are not a student or a scholar, this is one of the primary things every Nigerian should know.

Hope this article was helpful? Well, if you still have questions or contributions to make, you can send them via the comment box below. I will be glad to here from you!

By: Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka