“A Bill for an Act to provide for the periodic revision of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria and for other matters connected therewith, 2016” passed second Reading in Senate. Leading the debate at the plenary session of Thursday, March 8th 2017, Sen. David Umaru (APC: Niger) stated that the intendment of the Bill is to address major short falls associated with the review and codification of the Laws of the Federation (LFN).
Sen. Umaru also explained its primary objective which is to provide a legal framework for the periodic review, codification, consolidation and publication of Acts of the National Assembly and other subsidiary legislations of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in order to prevent the duplication of laws and ensure ease of reference by members of the general public.
Sen. Umaru mentioned that the Bill would address the issue of:
- The absence of a timeframe for the conduct of the codification exercise and;
- The prevailing practice whereby the National Assembly is required at all times to pass a law to approve every compilation of the Laws of the Federation.
Elaborating further, he elucidated that his Bill would provide the Attorney General of the Federation the powers to periodically review the laws and appoint a law revision committee. Following the unanimous adoption of the motion by members of the Senate, the Bill was referred to the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.
