Senate passes five bills for concurrence

The Senate has passed five bills from the House of Representatives for concurrence.

The bills include Public Enterprises (Privatization and Commercialization) Act (Repeal & Enactment) Bill, 2022; and Orthopaedic Hospitals Management Board  Act (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Others are Chartered Institute of Social Work Practitioners (Establishment) Bill, 2022; Nigeria Council for Social Work (Establishment) Bill, 2022; and Chartered Institute of Professional Secretarial of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2022.

The five bills, sponsored by the Deputy Senate Leader, Ajayi Boroffice, were passed after consideration by the Committee of the Whole.

In a related development, the Senate, on Tuesday, passed the Nigeria Postal Services (Repeal and are-enactment) Bill, 2022.

Also passed were the Chartered Institute of Public Administration of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2022; and Raw Materials Research and Development Council Act 2004 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2022.

The three bills were passed after re-committal to the Committee of the Whole.

The motion for recommittal was sponsored by the Deputy Senate Leader, Ajayi Boroffice.

Boroffice, in his presentation, observed that “some fundamental issues which require fresh legislative action by both Chambers of the National Assembly emerged after a critical analysis of the bills by Mr. President C – in – C.”

He said that a Technical Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives and Directorate of Legal Services met and worked on the bills.

The Senate, relying on Order 1(b) and Order 52(6) of the Standing Order, 2022 as amended, rescinded its decision on the bills as passed and re-committed same to the Committee of the Whole for consideration and passage.

Meanwhile, two bills seeking to  establish the Council for Certification of Professional Counselors in Nigeria; and Federal College of Agricultural Technology Opialu-Ojapo on Tuesday, have passed second reading in the Senate.

The bills were sponsored by Senators Ovie Omo-Agege (APC, Delta Central) and Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South).

The bills were both referred by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the Committees on Establishment and Public Service Matters; and Agriculture and Rural Development, respectively, for further legislative inputs.

The Committees were both given four weeks to submit their reports to the Senate for consideration.