| THE LEGISLATURE
Part I
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
A - Composition and Staff of
National Assembly
47. There shall be a National Assembly
for the Federation which shall consist of a Senate and a
House of Representatives.
48. The Senate shall consist of three
Senators from each State and one from the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja.
49. Subject to the provisions of this
Constitution, the House of Representatives shall consist of
three hundred and sixty members representing
constituencies of nearly equal population as far as
possible, provided that no constituency shall
fall within more than one State.
50.
(1) There shall be:-
(a) a President and a Deputy
President of the Senate, who shall be
elected by the members of that
House from among themselves; and
(b) a Speaker and a Deputy
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
who shall be elected by the members
of that House from among
themselves.
(2) The President or Deputy
President of the Senate or the Speaker or Deputy
Speaker of the House of Representatives
shall vacate his office -
(a) if he ceases to be a
member of the Senate or of the House of
Representatives, as the case may
be, otherwise than by reason of a
dissolution of the Senate or the
House of Representatives; or
(b) when the House of which
he was a member first sits after any
dissolution of that House; or
(c) if he is removed from
office by a resolution of the Senate or of the
House of Representatives, as the
case may be, by the votes of not less
than two-thirds majority of the
members of that House.
51. There shall be a Clerk to the
National Assembly and such other staff as may be prescribed by
an Act of the National Assembly, and the
method of appointment of the Clerk and other staff of the
National Assembly shall be as prescribed by
that tab
B - Procedure for Summoning and
Dissolution of National Assembly
52.
(1) Every member of the Senate or
the House of Representatives shall, before taking
his seat, declare his assets and
liabilities as prescribed in this Constitution and
subsequently take and subscribe the Oath
of Allegiance and the oath of membership as
prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to
this Constitution before the President of the
Senate or, as the case may be, the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, but a
member may before taking the oaths take
part in the election of a President and a
Deputy President of the Senate, as the
case may be, or a Speaker and a Deputy
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(2) The President and Deputy
President of the Senate and the Speaker and the
Deputy Speaker of the House of
Representative s shall declare their assets and
liabilities as prescribed in this
Coinstitution and subsequently take and subscribe the
Oath of Allegiance and the oath of
membership prescribed as aforesaid before the Clerk
of the National Assembly.
53.
(1) At any sitting of the National
Assembly -
(a) in the case of the
Senate, the President of the Senate shall preside,
and in his absence the Deputy
President shall preside; and
(b) in the case of the House
of Representatives, the Speaker of that
House shall preside, and in his
absence the Deputy Speaker shall
preside.
(2) AT any joint sitting of the
Senate and House of Representatives -
(a) the President of Senate
shall preside, and in his absence the
Speaker of the House of
Representatives shall preside; and
(b) in the absence of the
persons mentioned in paragraph (a) of this
subsection, the Deputy President of
the Senate shall preside, and in his
absence the Deputy Speaker of the
House of Representatives shall
preside.
(3) In the absence of the persons
mentioned in the foregoing provisions of this
section, such member of the Senate or
the House of Representatives or of the joint
sitting, as the case may be, as the
Senate or the House of Representatives or the joint
sitting may elect for that purpose shall
preside.
54.
(1) The quorum of the Senate or of
the House of Representatives shall be one-third of
all the members on of the Legislative
House concerned.
(2) The quorum of a joint sitting
of both the Senate or of the House of
Representatives shall be one-third of
all the members of both Houses.
(3) If objection is taken by any
member of the Senate or the House of
Representatives present that there are
present in the House of which he is a member
(besides the person presiding fewer than
one-third of all the members of that House and
that it is not competent for the House
to transact business, and after such interval as
may be prescribed in the rules of
procedure of the House, the person presiding
ascertains that the number of members
present is still less than one-third of all the
members of the House he shall adjourn
the House.
(4) The foregoing provisions of
this section shall apply in relation to a joint sitting of
both Houses of the National Assembly as
they apply in relation to a House of the
National Assembly as if references to
the Senate or the House of Representatives and a
member of either Houses are references
to both Houses and to any member of the
National Assembly, respectively.
55. The business of the National
Assembly shall be conducted in English, and in Hausa, Ibo and
Yoruba when adequate arrangements have been
made therefor.
56.
(1) Except as otherwise provided
by this Constitution any question proposed for
decision in the Senate or the House of
Representatives shall be determined by the
required majority or the members present
and voting; and the person presiding shall
cast a vote whenever necessary y to
avoid an equality of votes but shall not vote in any
other case.
(2) Except as otherwise provided
by this Constitution, the required majority for the
purpose of determining any question
shall be a simple majority.
(3) The Senate or the House of
Representatives shall by its rules provide -
(a) that a member of the
House shall declare any direct pecuniary
interest he may have in any matter
coming before the House for
deliberation;
(b) that the House may by
resolution decide whether or not such
member may vote, or participate in
its deliberations, on such matter;
(c) the penalty, if any,
which the House may impose for failure to
declare any direct pecuniary
interest such member may have; and`
(d) for such other matters
pertaining to the foregoing as the House may
think necessary,
but nothing in the foregoing
provisions shall enable any rules to be made
to require any member, who
signifies his intention not to vote on or
participate in such matter, and who
does not so vote or participate, to
declare any such interest.
57. Any person who sits or votes in the
Senate or the House of Representatives knowing or having
reasonable grounds for knowing that he is not
entitled to do so commits an offence and is liable on
conviction to such punishment as shall be
prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.
58.
(1) The power of the National
Assembly to make laws shall be exercised by bills
passed by both the Senate and the House
of Representatives and, except as otherwise
provided by subsection (5) of this
section, assented to by the President.
(2) A bill may originate in either
the Senate or the House of Representatives and
shall not become law unless it has been
passed and, except as otherwise provided by
this section and section 59 of this
Constitution, assented to in accordance with the
provisions of this section.
(3) Where a bill has been passed
by the House in which it originated, it shall be sent
to the other House, and it shall be
presented to the President for assent when it has
been passed by that other House and
agreement has been reached between the two
Houses on any amendment made on it.
(4) Where a bill is presented to
the President for assent, he shall within thirty days
thereof signify that he assents or that
he withholds assent.
(5) Where the President withholds
his assent and the bill is again passed by each
House by two-thirds majority, the bill
shall become law and the assent of the President
shall not be required.
59.
(1) The provisions of this section
shall apply to:
(a) an appropriation bill or
a supplementary appropriation bill, including
any other bill for the payment,
issue or withdrawal from the Consolidated
REvenue Fund or any other public
fund of the Federation of any money
charged thereon or any alteration
in the amount of such a payment, issue
or withdrawal; and
(b) a bill for the imposition
of or increase in any tax, duty or fee or any
reduction, withdrawal or
cancellation thereof.
(2) Where a bill to which this
section applies is passed by one of the Houses of the
National Assembly but is not passed by
the other House within a period of two months
from the commencement of a financial
year, the President of the Senate shall within
fourteen days thereafter arrange for and
convene a meeting of the joint finance
committee to examine the bill with a
view to resolving the differences between the two
Houses.
(3) Where the joint finance
committee fails to resolve such differences, then the bill
shall be presented to the National
Assembly sitting at a joint meeting, and if the bill is
passed at such joint meeting, it shall
be presented to the President for assent.
(4) Where the President, within
thirty days after the presentation of the bill to him,
fails to signify his assent or where he
withholds assent, then the bill shall again be
presented to the National Assembly
sitting at a joint meeting, and if passed by
two-thirds majority of members of both
houses at such joint meeting, the bill shall
become law and the assent of the
President shall not be required.
(5) In this section, "joint
finance committee" refers to the joint committee of the
National Assembly on finance established
pursuant to section 62(3) of this Constitution.
60. Subject to the provisions of this
Constitution, the Senate or the House of Representatives shall
have power to regulate its own procedure,
including the procedure for summoning and recess of the
House.
61. The Senate or the House of
Representatives may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its
membership, and the presence or participation
of any person not entitled to be present at or to
participate in the proceedings of the House
shall not invalidate those proceedings.
62.
(1) The Senate or the House of
Representatives may appoint a committee of its
members for such special or general
purpose as in its opinion would be better regulated
and managed by means of such a
committee, and may by resolution, regulation or
otherwise, as it thinks fit, delegate
any functions exercisable by it to any such
committee.
(2) The number of members of a
committee appointed under this section, their terms
of office and quorum shall be fixed by
the House appointing it.
(3) The Senate and the House of
Representatives shall appoint a joint committee on
finance consisting of an equal number of
persons appointed by each House and may
appoint any other joint committee under
the provisions of this section.
(4) Nothing in this section shall
be construed as authorising such House to delegate
to a committee the power to decide
whether a bill shall be passed into law or to
determine any matter which it is
empowered to determine by resolution under the
provisions of this Constitution, but the
committee may be authorised to make
recommendations to the House on any such
matter.
63. The Senate and the House of
Representatives shall each sit for a period of not less than one
hundred and eighty-one days in a year.
64.
(1) The Senate and the House of
Representatives shall each stand dissolved at the
expiration of a period of four years
commencing from the date of the first sitting of the
House.
(2) If the Federation is at war in
which the territory of Nigeria is physically involved
and the President considers that it is
not practicable to hold elections, the National
Assembly may by resolution extend the
period of four years mentioned in subsection (1)
of this section from time to time but
not beyond a period of six months at any one time.
(3) Subject to the provisions of
this Constitution, the person elected as the President
shall have power to issue a proclamation
for the holding of the first session of the
National Assembly immediately after his
being sworn in, or for its dissolution as
provided in this section.
Qualifications for Membership of
National Assembly and Right of Attendance
65.
(1) Subject to the provisions of
section 66 of this Constitution, a person shall be
qualified for election as a member of:
(a) the Senate, if he is a
citizen of Nigeria and has attained the age of
35 years; and
(b) the House of
Representatives, if he is a citizen of Nigeria and has
attained the age of 30 years;
(2) A person shall be qualified
for election under subsection (1) of this section if:
(a) he has been educated up
to at least School Certificate level or its
equivalent; and
(b) he is a member of a
political party and is sponsored by that party.
66.
(1) No person shall be qualified
for election to the Senate or the House of
Representatives if:
(a) subject to the provisions
of section 28 of this Constitution, he has
voluntarily acquired the
citizenship of a country other than Nigeria or,
except in such cases as may be
prescribed by the National Assembly,
has made a declaration of
allegiance to such a country;
(b) under any law in force in
any part of Nigeria, he is adjudged to be a
lunatic or otherwise declared to be
of unsound mind;
(c) he is under a sentence of
death imposed on him by any competent
court of law or tribunal in Nigeria
or a sentence of imprisonment or fine for
an offence involving dishonesty or
fraud (by whatever name called) or any
other offence imposed on him by
such a court or tribunal or substituted by
a competent authority for any other
sentence imposed on him by such a
court;
(d) within a period of less
than 10 years before the date of an election to
a legislative house, he has been
convicted and sentenced for an offence
involving dishonesty or he has been
found guilty of a contravention of the
Code of Conduct;
(e) he is an undischarged
bankrupt, having been adjudged or otherwise
declared bankrupt under any law in
force in any part of Nigeria;
(f) he is a person employed
in the public service of the Federation or of
any State and has not resigned,
withdrawn or retired from such
employment 30 days before the date
of election;
(g) he is a member of a
secret society;
(h) he has been indicted for
embezzlement or fraud by Judicial
Commission of Inquiry or an
Administrative Panel of Inquiry or a Tribunal
set up under the Tribunals of
Inquiry Act, a Tribunals of Inquiry Law or any
other law by the Federal or State
Government which indictment has been
accepted by the Federal or State
Governments respectively; o r.
(i) he has presented a
forged certificate to the
Independence National
Electoral Commission.
(2) Where in respect of any person
who has been-
(a) adjudged to be a lunatic;
(b) declared to be of unsound
mind;
(c) sentenced to death or
imprisonment; or
(d) adjudged or declared
bankrupt,
any appeal against the decision
is pending in any court of law in
accordance with any law in force in
Nigeria, subsection (1) of the section
shall not apply during a period
beginning from the date when such appeal
is lodged and ending on the date
when the appeal is finally determined or,
as the case may be, the appeal
lapses or is abandoned, whichever is
earlier.
(3) For the purposes of subsection
(2) of this section "appeal" includes any
application for an injunction or an
order certiorari, mandamus, prohibition or habeas
corpus, or any appeal from any such
application.
67.
(1) The President may attend any
joint meeting of the National Assembly or any
meeting of either House of the National
Assembly, either to deliver an address on
national affairs including fiscal
measures, or to make such statement on the policy of
government as he considers to be of
national importance.
(2) A Minister of the Government
of the Federation attend either House of the
National Assembly if invited to express
to the House the conduct of his Ministry, and in
particular when the affairs of that
Ministry are under discussion.
(3) Nothing in this section shall
enable any person who is not a member of the
Senate or of the House of
Representatives to vote in that House or in any of its
committees.
68.
(1) A member of the Senate or of
the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat
in the House of which he is a member if
-
(a) he becomes a member of
another legislative house.
(b) any other circumstances
arise that, if he were not a member of the
Senate or the House of
Representatives, would cause him to be
disqualified for election as a
member;
(c) he ceases to be a citizen
of Nigeria;
(d) he becomes President,
Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor
or a Minister of the Government of
the Federation or a Commissioner of
the Government of a State or a
Special Adviser.
(e) save as otherwise
prescribed by this Constitution, he becomes a
member of a commission or other
body established by this Constitution or
by any other law.
(f) without just cause he is
absent from meetings of the House of which
he is a member for a period
amounting in the aggregate to more than
one-third of the total number of
days during which the House meets in any
one year;
(g) being a person whose
election to the House was sponsored by a
political party, he becomes a
member of another political party before the
expiration of the period for which
that House was elected;
Provided that his membership of
the latter political party is not as a result
of a division in the political
party of which he was previously a member or
of a merger of two or more
political parties or factions by one of which he
was previously sponsored; or
(h) the President of the
Senate or, as the case may be, the Speaker of
the House of Representatives
receives a certificate under the hand of the
Chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission stating that
the provisions of section 69 of
this Constitution have been complied with in
respect of the recall of that
member.
(2) The President of the Senate or
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as
the case may be, shall give effect to
the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, so
however that the President of the Senate
or the Speaker of the House of
Representatives or a member shall first
present evidence satisfactory to the House
concerned that any of the provisions of
that subsection has become applicable in
respect of that member.
(3) A member of the Senate or of
the House of Representatives shall be deemed to
be absent without just cause from a
meeting of the House of which he is a member,
unless the person presiding certifies in
writing that he is satisfied that the absence of
the member from the meeting was for a
just cause.
69. A member of the Senate or of the
House Representatives may be recalled as such a member if
-
(a) there is presented to the
Chairman of the Independent National
Electoral Commission a petition in
that behalf signed by more than
one-half of the persons registered
to vote in that member's constituency
alleging their loss of confidence
in that member; and
(b) the petition is
thereafter, in a referendum conducted by the
Independent National Electoral
Commission within ninety days of the date
of receipt of the petition,
approved by a simple majority of the votes of the
persons registered to vote in that
member's constituency.
70. A member of the Senate or of the
House of Representatives shall receive such salary and other
allowances as REvenue Mobilisation Allocation
and Fiscal Commission may determine
D - Elections to
National Assembly
71. Subject to the provisions of
section 72 of this Constitution, the Independent National Electoral
Commission shall -
(a) divide each State of the
Federation into three Senatorial districts for
purposes of elections to the
Senate; and
(b) subject to the provisions
of section 49 of this Constitution, divide the
Federation into three hundred and
sixty Federal constituencies for
purposes of elections to the House
of Representatives.
72. No Senatorial district or Federal
constituency shall fall within more than one State, and the
boundaries of each district or constituency
shall be as contiguous as possible and be such that the
number of inhabitants thereof is as nearly
equal to the population quota as is reasonably practicable.
73.
(1) The Independent National
Electoral Commission shall review the division of States
and of the Federation into Senatorial
districts and Federal constituencies at intervals of
not less than ten years, and may alter
the districts or constituencies in accordance with
the provisions of this section to such
extent as it may consider desirable in the light of
the review.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1)
of this section, the Independent National Electoral
Commission may at any time carry out
such a review and alter the districts or
constituencies in accordance with the
provisions of this section to such extent as it
considers necessary, in consequence of
any amendment to section 8 of this
Constitution or any provision.
replacing that section, or by reason
of the holding of a census of the population, or
pursuant to an Act of the National
Assembly.
74. Where the boundaries of any
Senatorial district or Federal constituency established under
section 71 of this Constitution are altered
in accordance with the provisions section 73 hereof, the
alteration shall come into effect after it
has been approved by each House of the National Assembly
and after the current life of the Senate (in
the case of an alteration to the boundaries of a Senatorial
district) or the House of s (in the case of
an alteration to the boundaries of a Federal constituency).
75. For the purposes of section 72 of
this Constitution, the number of inhabitants of Nigeria or any
part thereof shall be ascertained by
reference to the 1991 census of the population of Nigeria or the
latest census held in pursuance of an Act of
the National Assembly after the coming into force of the
provisions of this Part of this Chapter of
this Constitution.
76.
(1) Elections to each House of the
National Assembly shall be held on a date to be
appointed by the Independent National
Electoral Commission.
(2) The date mentioned in
subsection (1) of this section shall not be earlier than sixty
days before and not later than the date
on which the House stands dissolved, or where
the election to fill a vacancy occurring
more than three months before such date; not
later than one month after the vacancy
occurred.
77.
(1) Subject to the provisions of
this Constitution, every Senatorial district or Federal
constituency established in accordance
with the provisions of this Part of this Chapter
shall return a member who shall be
directly elected to the Senate or the House of
Representatives in such manner as may be
prescribed by an act of the National
Assembly.
(2) Every citizen of Nigeria, who
has attained the age of eighteen years residing in
Nigeria at the time of the registration
of voters for purposes of election to a legislative
house, shall be entitled to be
registered as a voter for that election.
78. The registration of voters and the
conduct of elections shall be subject to the direction and
supervision of Independent National Electoral
Commission.
79. The National Assembly shall make
provisions in respects -
(a) persons who may apply to
an election tribunal for determination of
any question as to whether -
(i) any person has been
validly elected as a member of
the Senate or of the House of
Representatives,
(ii) the term of office
of any person has ceased, or
(iii) the seat in the
Senate or in the House of
Representatives of a member of
that House has become
vacant;
(b) circumstances and manner
in which, and the conditions upon which,
such application may be made; and
(c) powers, practice and
procedure of the election tribunal in relation to
any such application.
E - Powers and Control
over Public Funds
80.
(1) All revenues or other moneys
raised or received by the Federation (not being
revenues or other moneys payable under
this Constitution or any Act of the National
Assembly into any other public fund of
the Federation established for a specific
purpose) shall be paid into and form one
Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
(2) No moneys shall be withdrawn
from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the
Federation except to meet expenditure
that is charged upon the fund by this
Constitution or where the issue of those
moneys has been authorised by an
Appropriation Act, Supplementary
Appropriation Act or an Act passed in pursuance of
section 81 of this Constitution.
(3) No moneys shall be withdrawn
from any public fund of the Federation, other than
the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the
Federation, unless the issue of those moneys
has been authorised by an Act of the
National Assembly.
(4) No moneys shall be withdrawn
from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other
public fund of the Federation, except in
the manner prescribed by the National
Assembly.
81.
(1) The President shall cause to
be prepared and laid before each House of the
National Assembly at any time in each
financial year estimates of the revenues and
expenditure of the Federation for the
next following financial year.
(2) The heads of expenditure
contained in the estimates (other than expenditure
charged upon the Consolidated Revenue
Fund of the Federation by this Constitution)
shall be included in a bill, to be known
as an Appropriation Bill, providing for the issue
from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of
the sums necessary to meet that expenditure
and the appropriation of those sums for
the purposes specified therein.
(3) Any amount standing to the
credit of the judiciary in the Consolidated Revenue
Fund of the Federation shall be paid
directly to the National Judicial Council for
disbursement to the heads of the courts
established for the Federation and the State
under section 6 of this Constitution.
(4) If in respect of any financial
year it is found that -
(a) the amount appropriated
by the Appropriation Act for any purpose is
insufficient; or
(b) a need has arisen for
expenditure for a purpose for which no amount
has been appropriated by the Act,
a supplementary estimate showing
the sums required shall be laid before
each House of the National Assembly
and the heads of any such
expenditure shall be included in a
Supplementary Appropriation Bill.
82. If the Appropriation Bill in
respect of any financial year has not been passed into law by the
beginning of the financial year, the
President may authorise the withdrawal of moneys in the
Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation
for the purpose of meeting expenditure necessary to
carry on the services of the Government of
the Federation for a period not exceeding months or until
the coming into operation of the Appropriate
Act, whichever is the earlier:
Provided that the withdrawal in respect of
any such period shall not exceed the amount authorised to
be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue
Fund of the Federation under the provisions of the
Appropriation Act passed by the National
Assembly for the corresponding period in the immediately
preceding financial year, being an amount
proportionate to the total amount so authorised for the
immediately preceding financial year.
83.
(1) The National Assembly may by
law make provisions for the establishment of a
Contingencies Fund for the Federation
and for authorising the President, if satisfied that
there has arisen an urgent and
unforeseen need for expenditure for which no other
provision exists, to make advances from
the Fund to meet the need.
(2) Where any advance is made in
accordance with the provisions of this section, a
Supplementary Estimate shall be
presented and a Supplementary Appropriation Bill
shall be introduced as soon as possible
for the purpose of replacing the amount so
advanced.
84.
(1) There shall be paid to the
holders of the offices mentioned in this section such
remuneration, salaries and allowances as
may be prescribed by the National Assembly,
but not exceeding the amount as shall
have been determined by the Revenue
Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal
Commission.
(2) The remuneration, salaries and
allowances payable to the holders of the offices
so mentioned shall be a charge upon the
Consolidated Revenue Fund of the
Federation.
(3) The remuneration and salaries
payable to the holders of the said offices and their
conditions of service, other than
allowances, shall not be altered to their disadvantage
after their appointment.
(4) The offices aforesaid are the
offices of President, Vice-President, Chief Justice of
Nigeria, Justice of the Supreme Court,
President of the Court of Appeal, Justice of the
Court of Appeal, Chief Judge of the
Federal High Court, Judge of the Federal High Court,
Chief Judge and Judge of the High Court
of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Chief
Judge of a State, Judge of the High
Court of a State, Grand Kadi of the Sharia Court of
Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory,
Abuja, President and Judge of the Customary
Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja, Grand Kadi and Kadi of the
Sharia Court of Appeal of a State,
President and Judge of the Customary Court of
Appeal of a State, the Auditor-General
for the Federation and the Chairmen and
members of the following executive
bodies, namely, the Code of Conduct Bureau, the
Federal Civil Service Commission, the
Independent National Electoral Commission, the
National Judicial Council, the Federal
Judicial Service Commission, the Judicial Service
Committee of the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja, the Federal Character Commission,
the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the
National Population Commission, the Revenue
Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal
Commission, the Nigeria Police Council and the
Police Service Commission.
(5) Any person who has held office
as President or Vice-President shall be entitled to
pension for life at a rate equivalent to
the annual salary of the incumbent President or
Vice-President:
Provided that such a person was not
removed from office by the process of
impeachment or for breach of any
provisions of this Constitution.
(6) Any pension granted by virtue
of subsection (5) of this section shall be a charge
upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund of
the Federation.
(7) The recurrent expenditure of
judicial offices in the Federation (in addition to
salaries and allowances of the judicial
officers mentioned in subsection (4) of this
section) shall be charge upon the
Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
85.
(1) There shall be an
Auditor-General for the Federation who shall be appointed in
accordance with the provisions of
section 86 of this Constitution.
(2) The public accounts of the
Federation and of all offices and courts of the
Federation shall be audited and reported
on to the Auditor-General who shall submit his
reports to the National Assembly; and
for that purpose, the Auditor-General or any
person authorised by him in that behalf
shall have access to all the books, records,
returns and other documents relating to
those accounts.
(3) Nothing in subsection (2) of
this section shall be construed as authorising the
Auditor-General to audit the accounts of
or appoint auditors for government statutory
corporations, commissions, authorities,
agencies, including all persons and bodies
established by an Act of the National
Assembly, but the Auditor-General shall -
(a) provide such bodies with
-
(i) a list of auditors
qualified to be appointed by them as
external auditors and from
which the bodies shall appoint
their external auditors, and
(ii) guidelines on the
level of fees to be paid to external
auditors; and
(b) comment on their annual
accounts and auditor's reports thereon.
(4) The Auditor-General shall have
power to conduct checks of all government
statutory corporations, commissions,
authorities, agencies, including all persons and
bodies established by an Act of the
National Assembly.
(5) The Auditor-General shall,
within ninety days of receipt of the
Accountant-General's financial
statement, submit his reports under this section to each
House of the National Assembly and each
House shall cause the reports to be
considered by a committee of the House
of the National Assembly responsible for
public accounts.
(6) In the exercise of his functions
under this Constitution, the Auditor-General shall not
be subject to the direction or control
of any other authority or person.
86.
(1) The Auditor-General for the
Federation shall be appointed by the President on the
recommendation of the Federal Civil
Service Commission subject to confirmation by the
Senate.
(2) The power to appoint persons
to act in the office of the Auditor-General shall vest
in the President.
(3) Except with the sanction of a
resolution of the Senate, no person shall act in the
office of the Auditor-General for a
period exceeding six months.
87.
(1) A person holding the office of
the Auditor-General for the Federation shall be
removed from office by the President
acting on an address supported by two-thirds
majority of the Senate praying that he
be so removed for inability to discharge the
functions of his-office (whether arising
from infirmity of mind or body or any other cause)
or for misconduct.
(2) The Auditor-General shall not
be removed from office before such retiring age as
may be prescribed by law, save in
accordance with the provisions of this section.
88.
(1) Subject to the provisions of
this Constitution, each House of the National
Assembly shall have power by resolution
published in its journal or in the Official
Gazette of the Government of the
Federation to direct or cause to be directed
investigation into -
(a) any matter or thing with
respect to which it has power to make laws,
and
(b) the conduct of affairs of
any person, authority, ministry or
government department charged, or
intended to be charged, with the duty
of or responsibility for -
(i) executing or
administering laws enacted by National
Assembly, and
(ii) disbursing or
administering moneys appropriated or to
be appropriated by the
National Assembly.
(2) The powers conferred on the
National Assembly under the provisions of this
section are exercisable only for the
purpose of enabling it to -
(a) make laws with respect to
any matter within its legislative
competence and correct any defects
in existing laws; and
(b) expose corruption,
inefficiency or waste in the execution or
administration of laws within its
legislative competence and in the
disbursement or administration of
funds appropriated by it.
89.
(1) For the purposes of any
investigation under section 88 of this Constitutional and
subject to the provisions thereof, the
Senate or the House of Representatives or a
committee appointed in accordance with
section 62 of this Constitution shall have power
to -
(a) procure all such
evidence, written or oral, direct or circumstantial, as
it may think necessary or
desirable, and examine all persons as
witnesses whose evidence may be
material or relevant to the subject
matter;
(b) require such evidence to
be given on oath;
(c) summon any person in
Nigeria to give evidence at any place or
produce any document or other thing
in his possession or under his
control, and examine him as a
witness and require him to produce any
document or other thing in his
possession or under his control, subject to
all just exceptions; and
(d) issue a warrant to compel
the attendance of any person who, after
having been summoned to attend,
fails, refuses or neglects to do so and
does not excuse such failure,
refusal or neglect to the satisfaction of the
House or the committee in question,
and order him to pay all costs which
may have been occasioned in
compelling his attendance or by reason of
his failure, refusal or neglect to
obey the summons, and also to impose
such fine as may be prescribed for
any such failure, refused or neglect;
and any fine so imposed shall be
recoverable in the same manner as a
fine imposed by a court of law.
(2) A summons or warrant issued
under this section may be served or executed by
any member of the Nigeria Police Force
or by any person authorised in that behalf by
the President of the Senate or the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the
case may require.
Part II
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY OF A STATE
A - Composition and Staff of
House of Assembly
90. There shall be a House of Assembly
for each of the States of the Federation.
91. Subject to the provisions of this
Constitution, a House of Assembly of a State shall consist of
three or four times the number of seats which
that State has in the House of Representatives divided
in a way to reflect, as far as possible
nearly equal population:
Provided that a House of Assembly of a
State shall consist of not less than twenty-four and not more
than forty members.
92.
(1) There shall be a Speaker and a
Deputy Speaker of a House of Assembly who
shall be elected by the members of the
House from among themselves.
(2) The Speaker or Deputy Speaker
of the House of Assembly shall vacate his office
-
(a) if he ceases to be a
member of the House of Assembly otherwise
than by reason of the dissolution
of the House;
(b) When the House first sits
after any dissolution of House; or
(c) if he is removed from
office by a resolution of House of Assembly by
the votes of not less than
two-third majority of the members of the House.
93. There shall be a Clerk to a House
of Assembly and such other staff as may be prescribed by a
Law enacted by the House of Assembly, and the
method of appointment of the Clerk and other staff of
the House shall be as prescribed by that Law.
B - Procedure for Summoning and
Dissolution of House of Assembly
94.
(1) Every person elected to a
House of Assembly shall before taking his seat in that
House, declare his assets and
liabilities in the manner prescribed in this Constitution
and subsequently take and subscribe
before the Speaker of the House, the Oath of
Allegiance and oath of membership
prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to this
Constitution, but a member may, before
taking the oaths, take part in the election of the
Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House
of Assembly.
(2) The Speaker and Deputy Speaker
of a House of Assembly shall declare their
assets and liabilities in the manner
prescribed by this Constitution and subsequently
take and subscribe to the Oath of
Allegiance and the oath of membership prescribed as
aforesaid before the Clerk of the House
of Assembly.
95.
(1) At any sitting of a House of
Assembly, the Speaker of that House shall preside,
and in his absence the Deputy Speaker
shall preside.
(2) In the absence of the Speaker
and Deputy Speaker of the House, such member
of the House as the House may elect for
a purpose shall preside.
96.
(1) The quorum of a House of
Assembly shall be one-third of all the members of the
House.
(2) If objection is taken by any
member of a House of Assembly present that there
are present in that House (besides the
person presiding) fewer than one-third of all the
members of that House and that it is not
competent for the House to transact business,
and after such interval as may be
prescribed in the rules of procedure of the House, the
person presiding ascertains that the
number of members present is still less than
one-third of all the members of the
House, he shall adjourn the House.
97. The business of a House of Assembly
shall be conducted in English, but the House may in
addition to English conduct the business of
the House in one or more other languages spoken in the
State as the House may by resolution approve.
98.
(1) Except as otherwise provided
by this Constitution, any question proposed for
decision in a House of Assembly shall be
determined by the required majority of the
members present and voting; and the
person presiding shall cast a vote whenever
necessary to avoid an equality of votes
but shall not vote in any other case.
(2) Except as otherwise provided
by this Constitution, the required majority for the
purpose of determining any question
shall be a simple majority.
(3) A House of Assembly shall by
its rules provide -
(a) that a member of the
House shall declare any direct pecuniary
interest he may have in any matter
coming before the House for
deliberation;
(b) that the House may by
resolution decide whether or not such
member may vote or participate in
its deliberations, on such matter;
(c) the penalty, if any,
which the House may impose for failure to
declare any direct pecuniary
interest such member may have; and
(d) for such other matters
pertaining to the foregoing as the House may
think necessary, but nothing in
this subsection shall enable any rules to
be made to require any member, who
signifies his intention not to vote on
or participate in such matter, and
who does not so vote or participate, to
declare any such interest.
99. Any person who sits or votes in a
House of Assembly of a State knowing or having reasonable
grounds for knowing that he is not entitled
to do so commits an offence and is liable on conviction to
such punishment as shall be prescribed by a
Law of the House of Assembly.
100.
(1) The power of a House of
Assembly to make laws shall be exercised by bills
passed by the House of Assembly and,
except as otherwise provided by this section,
assented to by the Governor.
(2) A bill shall not become Law
unless it has been duly passed and, subject to
subsection (1) of this section, assented
to in accordance with the provisions of this
section.
(3) Where a bill has been passed
by the House of Assembly it shall be presented to
the Governor for assent.
(4) Where a bill is presented to
the Governor for assent he shall within thirty days
thereof signify that he assents or that
he withholds assent.
(5) Where the Governor withholds
assent and the bill is again passed by the House
of Assembly by two-thirds majority, the
bill shall become law and the assent of the
Governor shall not be required.
101. Subject to the provisions of this
Constitution, a House of Assembly shall have power to
regulate its own procedure, including the
procedure for summoning and recess of the House.
102. A House of Assembly may act
notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership, and the
presence or participation of any person not
entitled to be present at or to participate in the
proceedings of the House shall not invalidate
such proceedings.
103.
(1) A House of Assembly may
appoint a committee of its members for any special or
general purpose as in its opinion would
be better regulated and managed by means of
such a committee, and may by resolution,
regulation or otherwise as it thinks fit
delegate any functions exercisable by it
to any such committee.
(2) The number of members of a
committee appointed under this section, their term
of office and quorum shall be fixed by
the House of Assembly.
(3) Nothing in this section shall
be construed as authorising a House of Assembly to
delegate to a committee the power to
decide whether a bill shall be passed into Law or
to determine any matter which it is
empowered to determine by resolution under the
provisions of this Constitution, but
such a committee of the House may be authorised to
make recommendations to the House on any
such matter.
104. A House of Assembly shall sit for
a period of not less than one hundred and eighty-one days
in a year.
105.
(1) A House of Assembly shall
stand dissolved at the expiration of a period of four
years commencing from the date of the
first sitting of the House.
(2) If the Federation is at war in
which the territory of Nigeria is physically involved
and the President considers that it is
not practicable to hold elections, the National
Assembly may by resolution extend the
period of four years mentioned in subsection (1)
of this section from time to time but
not beyond a period of six months at any one time.
(3) Subject to the provisions of
this Constitution, the person elected as the Governor
of a State shall have power to issue a
proclamation for the holding of the first session of
the House of Assembly of the State
concerned immediately after his being sworn in, or
for its dissolution as provided in this
section.
C - Qualification for Membership of
House of Assembly and Right of
Attendance
106. Subject to the provisions of
section 107 of this Constitution, a person shall be qualified for
election as a member of a House of Assembly
if -
(a) he is a citizen of
Nigeria;
(b) he has attained the age
of thirty years;
(c) he has been educated up
to at least the School Certificate level or
its equivalent; and
(d) he is a member of a
political party and is sponsored by that party.
107.
(1) No person shall be qualified
for election to a House of Assembly if -
(a) subject to the provisions
of Section 28 of this Constitution, he has
voluntarily acquired the
citizenship of a country other than Nigeria or,
except in such cases as may be
prescribed by the National Assembly,
has made a declaration of
allegiance to such a country;
(b) under any law in force in
any part of Nigeria, he is adjudged to be a
lunatic or otherwise declared to be
of unsound mind;
(c) he is under a sentence of
death imposed on him by any competent
court of law or tribunal in Nigeria
or a sentence of imprisonment or fine for
an offence involving dishonesty or
fraud (by whatever name called) or any
other offence imposed on him by
such a court or tribunal substituted by a
competent authority for any other
sentence imposed on him by such a
court or tribunal;
(d) within a period of less
than ten years before the date of an election
to the House of Assembly, he has
been convicted and sentenced for an
offence involving dishonesty or he
has been found guilty of a contravention
of the Code of Conduct;
(e) he is an undischarged
bankrupt, having been adjudged or otherwise
declared bankrupt under any law in
force in any part of Nigeria;
(f) he is a person employed
in the public service of the Federation or of
any State and he has not resigned,
withdrawn or retired from such
employment thirty days before the
date of election;
(g) he is a member of any
secret society;
(h) he has been indicted for
embezzlement or fraud by a Judicial
Commission of Inquiry or an
Administrative Panel of Inquiry or a Tribunal
set up under the Tribunals of
Inquiry Act, a Tribunals of Inquiry Law or any
other law by the Federal and State
Government which indictment has
been accepted by the Federal or
State Government, respectively; or
(i) he has presented a
forged certificate to the Independent
National Electoral Commission.
(2) Where in respect of any person
who has been -
(a) adjudged to be a lunatic;
(b) declared to be of unsound
mind;
(c) sentenced to death or
imprisonment; or
(d) adjudged or declared
bankrupt,
any appeal against the decision
is pending in any court of law in
accordance with any law in force in
Nigeria, subsection (1) of this section
shall not apply during a period
beginning from the date when such appeal
is lodged and ending on the date
when the appeal is finally determined or,
as the case may be, the appeal
lapses or is abandoned, whichever is
earlier.
(3) For the purposes of subsection
(2) of this section, an "appeal" includes any
application for an injunction or an
order of certiorari, mandamus, prohibition or habeas
corpus, or any appeal from any such
application.
108.
(1) The Governor of a State may
attend a meeting of a House of Assembly of the
State either to deliver an address on
State affairs or to make such statement on the
policy of government as he may consider
to be of importance to the State.
(2) A Commissioner of the
Government of a State shall attend the House of
Assembly of the State if invited to
explain to the House of Assembly the conduct of his
Ministry, and in particular when the
affairs of that Ministry are under discussion.
(3) Nothing in this section shall
enable any person who is not a member of a House
of Assembly to vote in that House or in
any of its committees.
109.
(1) A member of a House of
Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if -
(a) he becomes a member of
another legislative house;
(b) any other circumstances
arise that, if he were not a member of that
House, would cause him to be
disqualified for election as such a
member;
(c) he ceases to be a citizen
of Nigeria;
(d) he becomes President,
Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor
or a Minister of the Government of
the Federation or a Commissioner of
the Government of a State or a
Special Adviser;
(e) save as otherwise
prescribed by this Constitution, he becomes a
member of a commission or other
body established by this Constitution or
by any other law;
(f) without just cause he is
absent from meetings of the House of
Assembly for a period amounting in
the aggregate to more than one-third
of the total number of days during
which the House meets in any one
year;
(g) being a person whose
election to the House of Assembly was
sponsored by a political party, he
becomes a member of another political
party before the expiration of the
period for which that House was elected:
Provided that his membership of
the latter political party is not as a result
of a division in the political
party of which he was previously a member or
of a merger of two or more
political parties or factions by one of which he
was previously sponsored; or
(h) the Speaker of the House
of Assembly receives a certificate under
the hand of the Chairman of the
Independent National Electoral
Commission stating that the
provisions of section 110 of this Constitution
have been complied with in respect
of the recall of the member.
(2) The Speaker of the House of
Assembly shall give effect to subsection (1) of this
section, so however that the Speaker or
a member shall first present evidence
satisfactory to the House that any of
the provisions of that subsection has become
applicable in respect of the member.
(3) A member of a House of
Assembly shall be deemed to be absent without just
cause from a meeting of the House of
Assembly unless the person presiding certifies in
writing that he is satisfied that the
absence of the member from the meeting was for a
just cause.
110. A member of the House of Assembly
may be recalled as such a member if -
(a) there is | 
