Pursuant to Order 17, Rule 3(1) (g), the House of
Representatives on Wednesday stopped 23 committees from further action on 25 bills
due to their inability to work on them within stipulated time frame.
The decision followed a motion by the Chairman,
House Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Edward Pwajok (Plateau, PDP),
requesting for the discharge of the committees from referrals on the bills as
provided in the Standing Orders of the House.
Listed among the bills are Medical Rehabilitation
Therapists Registration Act (Amendment) Bill 2016 before Committee on
Healthcare Services; Investment and Security Act (Amendment) Bill 2015 (Capital
Market and Institution); Inland (State Development) Act (Repeal) Bill (Ports,
Habours and Waterways); Loans (State Development) Act (Repeal) Bill (Aids,
Loans and Debt Management); Food, Drugs and Related Products (Regulation, etc)
Act (Amendment) Bill 2016 (Healthcare Services); Standards Organisation of
Nigeria Act (Amendment) Bill 2015 (Industry); Communications (Reducing
Unsolicited Telecommunications Phone Calls and Texts) Bill 2016
(Telecommunications); Pre-Shipment Inspection of Export Act (Amendment) Bill
2016 (Commerce), and National Planning Process Act (Amendment) Bill 2016
(National Planning and Development).
Others are: Unclaimed Financial Asset Bill 2016
(Insurance and Actuarial Matters and Finance); Nigeria Institute of Soil
Science (Disciplinary Tribunal) Bill 2015 (Agricultural Production and
Service); Chartered Institute of Operation Management of Nigeria Bill 2016
(Commerce); Federal Character Commission Act (Amendment) Bill 2015 (Federal
Character); National Boundary Commission Act (Amendment) Bill 2015 (Special
Duties, Trade Manipulation Act (Amendment) Bill 2016; National Programme on Immunisation
Act (Repeal) Bill 2015 (Healthcare Service); Monetary Power (Abrogation and Regulation)
Bill 2016 (Justice); National Maritime Insurance Bureau (Establishment etc)
Bill 2016 (Insurance and Actuarial
Matters); Counterfeit, Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Food
(Miscellaneous Provision) Act (Amendment) Bill 2015 (Healthcare Service), and
Chartered Institute of Global Communication and Diplomacy of Nigeria Bill 2015
(Commerce).
Also on the list are: Communication Service Tax
Bill 2015 (Telecommunications); National Agricultural Development Fund
(Establishment) Bill 2016 (Agriculture Production and Services); Infrastructure
Management and Maintenance Bill 2015 (Works); Nigerian National Heroes
Registration (Amendment) Bill 2015 (Housing and Habitat), and Traffic Warden
Service Bill 2016 (Police Affairs).
According to Pwajok, "Any matter referred to
any committee shall be treated within 30 days otherwise the committee shall
stand discharged after 60days and the matter committed to the Committee of the Whole
for consideration.”
Though Hon. Betty Apiafi (Rivers, PDP) argued that
most of the committees did not get adequate funding, Leader of the House, Hon.
Femi Gbajabiamila (Lagos, APC), countered her on the ground that “there is need
for us to take House Rules seriously because tax payers money is involved in
all we do here.”
He noted that "even the committee I co-chaired
on Estimated Power Billing since June this year has not submitted its report. I
want the ad hoc committee included in the list to be submitted to the Committee
of the Whole.”
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