President Muhammadu Buhari on recently signed 16 bills (Fifth Alteration) 2023 passed by the National Assembly into law, which will have significant effects on the political-economic construct of Nigeria as a Nation.
The 16 Bills assented to by the President are as detailed below-
- Fifth Alteration (No.1), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to change the names of Afikpo North and Afikpo South Local Government Areas; and for related matters.
- Fifth Alteration (No.2), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to change the name of Kunchi Local Government Area; and for related matters.
- Fifth Alteration (No.3), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to change the names of Egbado North and Egbado South Local Government Areas; and for related matters.
- Fifth Alteration (No.4), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to correct the name of Atigbo Local Government Area; and for related matters.
- Fifth Alteration (No.5), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to correct the name of Obia/Akpor Local Government Area; and for related matters.
- Fifth Alteration (No.6), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide for the financial independence of State Houses of Assembly and State Judiciary; and for related matters.
- Fifth Alteration (No.8), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to regulate the first session and inauguration of members-elect of the National and State Houses of Assembly; and for related matters.
- Fifth Alteration (No.9), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to delete the reference to the provisions of the Criminal Code, Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Act, Criminal Procedure Code or Evidence Act; and for related matters.
- Fifth Alteration (No.10), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to exclude the period of intervening events in the computation of time for determining pre-election petitions, election petitions and appeals; and for related matters.
- Fifth Alteration (No.12), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to provide for the post call qualification of the Secretary of the National Judicial Council; and for related matters.
- Fifth Alteration (No.15), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to delete the item “prisons” in the Exclusive Legislative List and redesignate it as “Correctional Services” in the Concurrent Legislative List; and for related matters.
- Fifth Alteration (No.16), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to move the item “railways” from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List; and for related matters.
- Fifth Alteration (No.17), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to allow States generate, transmit and distribute electricity in areas covered by the national grid; and for related matters.
- In Fifth Alteration (No.23), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to require the President and Governors to submit the names of persons nominated as Ministers or Commissioners within sixty days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the Senate or State House of Assembly; and for related matters.
- In Fifth Alteration (No.32), the Bill seeks alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to correct the error in the definition of the boundary of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; and for related matters.
- In Fifth Alteration (No.34), the Bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to require the Government to direct its policy towards ensuring right to food and food security in Nigeria; and for related matters.
Essentially, Fifth Alterations Bills No. 6, 7, 16, and 17 deals with devolution of powers/promoting true Federalism and strengthening of State Houses of Assembly and Judiciary.
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives who doubles as the Chairman, Special Ad-Hoc Committee on the Review of 1999 Constitution, Rt. Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase commended President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR for assenting to some momentous legislations that altered some Provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
Rt.Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase also congratulated Members of the 9th National Assembly for working tirelessly to ensure the passage of this legacy legislations.
![CPPE Pleads with CBN, Buhari to Review Process of Returning Old Notes The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise [CPPE] has pled with the Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN) and President Muhammadu Buhari to review the process through which Nigerians can return the old naira note they have at hand without losing their hard-earned money. In a statement signed Sunday by its chief executive officer, Muda Yusuf, CPPE beseeched the government to give a human face to the, lamenting that the agony and trauma inflicted by the entire management of the policy is unspeakable. Accordingly, CPPE urged the apex bank to allow the old 1,000 and 500 naira notes to be deposited at the commercial banks to ease the current pains and ordeal of returning the old notes. It further added: “The process should also be simplified to accommodate millions of rural dwellers, the informal sector players, the over 30 million unbanked Nigerians and several millions that are not literate. “The current guidelines which require filling of forms on the CBN portals, generating codes etc. does not reckon with millions of Nigerians that seek to return their old notes who are not literate, who don’t have access to internets and who are in very remote locations in various parts of the country. “They are Nigerians and are entitled to a fair consideration in the implementation process.” The Centre said most of the vulnerable victims of poor execution of the policy are women, microenterprises and small businesses which are contributing immensely to employment, poverty reduction and social stability at the bottom of the economic pyramid of the country. “It is bad enough that their lives and livelihoods have been terribly disrupted and disoriented. “We plead with the CBN to review its processes in the interest of fairness, justice and social inclusion,” the Centre said. Current approach Practically Impossible Meanwhile, the Centre said the current approach being employed by the apex to handle the process is evidently impractical. “It is impractical for the CBN offices to properly handle the process of receiving old currency notes which are still in abundance in the hands of millions of Nigerians. “It noted that there is only one branch of the CBN office in each state of the federation and the FCT. “It is practically impossible for the CBN to manage this process without subjecting our citizens to another round of harrowing experience.” It said the experience and images and disorderliness of the past few days at the CBN offices graphically illustrates this position. Conflicting Directives Businessmetrics reported that the CBN last week issued two conflicting directives within few hours which further heightened tension. While the CBN was believed to have directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in the country to start taking deposit of old 1,000 and 500 naira notes of not more N500,000 from their customers, the apex bank deny same directive hours later which led to more confusion for Nigerians. Nigeria is currently undergoing the process of withdrawing the old version of N1,000 and N500 notes from the system, to be replaced with the redesigned version of the currency notes as well N200 which, President Muhammadu Buhari, however, said would still remain a legal tender in the meantime. In the face of scarce new notes coupled with old notes still held by Nigerians outside the banking system, the February 10 deadline given by the CBN to swap the noted has led to economic disruption and hardship for most Nigerians as they remain cashless.](https://businessmetricsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/WhatsApp-Image-2023-02-20-at-12.13.47-AM-400x240.jpeg)
![CPPE Pleads with CBN, Buhari to Review Process of Returning Old Notes The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise [CPPE] has pled with the Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN) and President Muhammadu Buhari to review the process through which Nigerians can return the old naira note they have at hand without losing their hard-earned money. In a statement signed Sunday by its chief executive officer, Muda Yusuf, CPPE beseeched the government to give a human face to the, lamenting that the agony and trauma inflicted by the entire management of the policy is unspeakable. Accordingly, CPPE urged the apex bank to allow the old 1,000 and 500 naira notes to be deposited at the commercial banks to ease the current pains and ordeal of returning the old notes. It further added: “The process should also be simplified to accommodate millions of rural dwellers, the informal sector players, the over 30 million unbanked Nigerians and several millions that are not literate. “The current guidelines which require filling of forms on the CBN portals, generating codes etc. does not reckon with millions of Nigerians that seek to return their old notes who are not literate, who don’t have access to internets and who are in very remote locations in various parts of the country. “They are Nigerians and are entitled to a fair consideration in the implementation process.” The Centre said most of the vulnerable victims of poor execution of the policy are women, microenterprises and small businesses which are contributing immensely to employment, poverty reduction and social stability at the bottom of the economic pyramid of the country. “It is bad enough that their lives and livelihoods have been terribly disrupted and disoriented. “We plead with the CBN to review its processes in the interest of fairness, justice and social inclusion,” the Centre said. Current approach Practically Impossible Meanwhile, the Centre said the current approach being employed by the apex to handle the process is evidently impractical. “It is impractical for the CBN offices to properly handle the process of receiving old currency notes which are still in abundance in the hands of millions of Nigerians. “It noted that there is only one branch of the CBN office in each state of the federation and the FCT. “It is practically impossible for the CBN to manage this process without subjecting our citizens to another round of harrowing experience.” It said the experience and images and disorderliness of the past few days at the CBN offices graphically illustrates this position. Conflicting Directives Businessmetrics reported that the CBN last week issued two conflicting directives within few hours which further heightened tension. While the CBN was believed to have directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in the country to start taking deposit of old 1,000 and 500 naira notes of not more N500,000 from their customers, the apex bank deny same directive hours later which led to more confusion for Nigerians. Nigeria is currently undergoing the process of withdrawing the old version of N1,000 and N500 notes from the system, to be replaced with the redesigned version of the currency notes as well N200 which, President Muhammadu Buhari, however, said would still remain a legal tender in the meantime. In the face of scarce new notes coupled with old notes still held by Nigerians outside the banking system, the February 10 deadline given by the CBN to swap the noted has led to economic disruption and hardship for most Nigerians as they remain cashless.](https://businessmetricsng.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/WhatsApp-Image-2023-02-20-at-12.13.47-AM-80x80.jpeg)