The House of Representatives received 203 Bills within three weeks after its inauguration and the election of presiding officers.
The Bills were introduced for first reading between July 5 and 20, the House’s last adjourned date.
A close study of the Bills revealed that majority of them were first presented to the House in the Ninth Assembly.
The Bills were either not passed by the House or they were passed but did not sail through in the Senate; or they were passed by both chambers of the National Assembly but not signed by the President.
The Nation discovered that some of the Bills never went beyond the first reading under the last Assembly.
Also, some of the new Bills seek to amend laws that were passed by the last Assembly and signed into law by the ex-President.
A further study showed that majority of the Bills are now seeking the establishment of one form of higher institution or the other, ranging from universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, among others.
Some of them include Armed Forces Act Amendment Bill, Police Act Amendment Bill, Public Procurement Act Amendment Bill, National Food Reserve Agency Bill, Electoral Act Amendment Bill and Code of Conduct Act Amendment Bill.
Others include Criminal Justice Act Amendment Bill, Constitution Alterations Amendment Bills, Federal Medical Centres Amendment Bills, Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act Amendment Bill, Standard Organisation of Nigeria Act Amendment Bill, and Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act Amendment Bill.
Some of the new Bills being introduced are: the Lagos Megacity Development Authority Establishment Bill, Nigeria Social Investment Regulatory Establishment Bill, Bio-fuel Energy Regulatory Commission, Nigeria Author Trust Fund Establishment Act, Social Security for Undergraduate and the Aged in Nigeria Establishment Bill and Voting Rights of Nigerian Citizens Living Outside Nigeria Bill.
The Nation reports that the Religious Discrimination (Prohibition, Prevention) Bill, which was introduced in the last Assembly but failed to scale through second reading, has been reintroduced into the 10th Assembly.
