The House of Representatives yesterday directed the Clerk to the National Assembly to transmit a Bill seeking to alter the constitution to allow for the creation of State Security Councils to the President for assent.
The Bill, which is among those sent to states’ Houses of Assembly for concurrence in line with the provisions of the Constitution, was not among those earlier transmitted to the President.
When signed into law, the legislation will give constitutional backing to the existence of security councils in all the states of the federation as one of the state institutions created by the law.
Hitherto, only the State Civil Service Commission, State Independent Electoral Commission and State Judicial Service Commission were recognised by the constitution.
The National Assembly had, on 24 January, transmitted 35 constitution alteration Bills that met the requirements of Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution to Mr. President for his assent.
But while the President signed 16 of them into law, he abstained from assenting to 19 others.
The House had appealed to Gombe, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara states’ Houses of Assembly, which had not forwarded their resolutions on the constitutional amendment Bills, to do so in compliance with Constitutional obligations