The recurring pattern of low attendance at plenary sessions in both chambers of Nigeria\u2019s National Assembly continues to raise serious concerns about the legitimacy or even legality of decisions taken under such conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Section 54(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that\none-third of the members of either chamber must be present for plenary\nproceedings to validly occur. For the House of Representatives, that means at\nleast 120 of the 360 members; for the Senate, a minimum of 36 senators is\nrequired. These thresholds are not just formalities. They are constitutional\nsafeguards intended to ensure deliberative legitimacy and representative\ngovernance. Yet, both chambers have, on various occasions, proceeded with\ndebates, motions, and even the passage of bills in circumstances that strongly\nsuggest these thresholds were not met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In March 2025, both chambers of the National Assembly\napproved a resolution for a state of emergency in Rivers State under Section\n305 of the Constitution\u2014but the procedure drew constitutional scrutiny. The\nHouse, after failing to meet quorum on March 19, reconvened with 243 members on\nMarch 20 and passed the resolution via voice vote, without a recorded tally.\nThe Senate adopted a similar approach after a closed session. Given that\nSection 305 requires a two-thirds majority of all<\/em> members, the lack of documented votes means there’s no verifiable\nevidence that the constitutionally required two-thirds majority was truly met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are not isolated cases. In the past, landmark legislation such\nas the Petroleum Industry Bill (now Petroleum Industry Act) and key amendments\nto the Electoral Act were passed during sittings in which photographic and\ngallery observation evidence showed sparsely populated chambers. In some\ninstances, entire sections of the seating areas were visibly empty while\nconsequential national legislation was being debated and passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The implications are not merely procedural.\nSection 1(3) of the Constitution clearly states that “if any other\nlaw is inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution, this Constitution\nshall prevail…”<\/em> Thus, any bill or motion passed in violation of\nthe quorum requirement could be legally contested and rendered null and void.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The deeper issue here is not merely absenteeism, but the systemic\nerosion of legislative standards and democratic accountability. When laws are passed by a fraction of lawmakers, the\noutcomes risk being disconnected from the will of the people. Moreover, public\ntrust in the National Assembly, which is already tenuous, is further eroded\nwhen citizens witness near-empty chambers deliberating on issues of national\nimportance. When legislation or motions are passed with questionable\nquorum, or through processes that conceal how many lawmakers were present or\nhow they voted, the legitimacy of those decisions comes into serious doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) strongly urges the\nleadership of both chambers of the National Assembly to prioritize\ninstitutional transparency in their legislative processes. Attendance records\nfor plenary and committee sessions should be made publicly accessible to allow\nconstituents track the engagement of their representatives. Quorum rules must\nbe rigorously enforced, and presiding officers should take responsibility for\nensuring legal thresholds are met before proceedings begin. Adopting electronic\nattendance and voting systems would significantly enhance accountability.\nExisting rules on absenteeism must also be enforced through concrete sanctions\nto deter chronic non-compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If other democracies can enable citizens to\ntrack parliamentary participation and voting records, Nigeria must rise to the\nsame standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PLAC reiterates that Nigeria\u2019s democracy can only function credibly\nwhen its legislative arm upholds both the letter and spirit of the\nConstitution. That means adhering strictly to quorum rules, maintaining\nattendance discipline, and ensuring voting procedures are transparent and\nrecorded\u2014especially where the law demands it. Legislating in half-empty\nchambers not only casts doubt on the decisions taken but also diminishes public\nconfidence in the democratic process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the National Assembly is to retain its institutional legitimacy,\nit must demonstrate that it can conduct its business openly, lawfully, and with\nthe seriousness the Constitution demands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The recurring pattern of low attendance at plenary sessions in both chambers of Nigeria\u2019s National Assembly continues to raise serious concerns about the legitimacy or even legality of decisions taken under such conditions. Section 54(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that one-third of the members of either chamber must be present for plenary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3869,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3863\/revisions\/3869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}