Resurrected bills are now the order of the day in the 10th House of Representatives as 32.8 percent of bills sponsored in the first year were from the 9th assembly

In the first year of the 10th House of Representatives, a total of 1175 bills were proposed out of which 386 were resurrected from the previous assembly. These make up for 32.8 percent of all house bills and spans across sectors such as education, security, electoral reforms, health and public finance amongst others. 

Some of these revived bills include:

• Foreign service commission (establishment) bill which was previously proposed in 2019.

• Epidemiologist general of the federation of Nigeria (establishment) Bill which was previously proposed in 2020.

• National roads fund bill which was previously introduced in 2019.

• Oil and gas investment and free zones bill which was previously introduced in 2019.

• National assembly budget and research office (NABRO) bill which was first introduced in 2019.

Rep. Kalu Benjamin Okezie (APC, Abia) is a major advocate of rekindling previous bills as he has a total of 36 resurrected bills out of the 85 bills he proposed. Of this number, 2.8 percent were adjourned for consideration, 2.8 percent were passed, 16.7 percent were transmitted to senate for concurrence, 11.1 percent are awaiting consideration, 13.8 percemt are awaiting report and 52.8 percent are awaiting 2nd reading. 

READ ALSO: 1st year of 10th national assembly: commendable or condemnable? | OPINION 

What are resurrected bills? 

Resurrected bills are bills that were considered in a previous assembly but were not passed due to one reason or the other and are now being reintroduced in the current assembly. With this, lawmakers revisit bills that have stalled in past houses aiming to advance their legislative agendas without initiating new approaches. 

When a bill is resurrected from a previous assembly, it is reintroduced as a new bill, therefore its bill number changes. This change in the bill identity makes room for upgrades to the bill’s past content. 

In the Nigerian National Assembly, resurrected bills have become a notable trend as lawmakers now resurrect bills which were unsuccessful in the previous assembly and this has given room for several criticisms of this approach. 

READ ALSO: #10thNASSReportcard: 54% of senate bills recircled

Why the backlash on resurrected bills? 

Lawmakers have come under fire as a result of the large number of resurrected bills in the just concluded year as the resurrected bills put a question mark on the lawmaker’s commitment to addressing issues that are currently affecting the citizens.

With the surge in resurrected bills, there is a possibility of pressing issues being subdued under the weight of the resurrection and this may not reflect adequate representation of the constituents. 

Therefore… 

As the 10th National Assembly gets along in its second year, it is highly important that the resurrection rate of past bills be toned down to give room for adequate attention to pressing issues and better serve the constituents they are representing in the chamber. 

Stay updated with further highlights from the #10thNASSreportcard here!