President Muhammadu Buhari Signs 8 Bills Into Law

President Buhari yesterday signed into law the Prevention of Crime Amendment Act‎ (2016‎) and seven other bills recently passed by the National Assembly.
The bills are all sponsored by different members of the National Assembly (non-executive bills) and were recently presented to the President for his assent.
The other bills are The National Crop Varieties and Livestock Breeds (Registration) Amendment Act‎ (2016); Telecommunications and Postal Offences Amendment Act‎ (2016); The National Agricultural Land Development Authority Amendment Act‎ (2016).

The rest are Produce Enforcement of Export Standards Amendment Act‎ (2016); Agricultural and Rural Management ‎Training Institute Amendment Act‎ (2016); Bee Import Control and Management Amendment Act‎ (2016); and Water Resources Amendment Act‎ (2016‎).

The President's senior special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Mr. Ita Enang, informed State House correspondents yesterday of Buhari's assent to the bills.

Enang said the President expressed his appreciation to leadership and membership of National Assembly, for the great work they did in considering the bills and the details therein.

According to him, "Mr. President considers the Acts as very vital to the present administration and in consonant with ‎All Progressive Congress agenda and thanks the National Assembly very much.

"He also directs that ministries, departments and agencies and all government functionaries, that whenever there is a bill pending before the National Assembly and there is a call for public hearing, they must attend and make inputs into those bills, so that those inputs will be taken into accounts by the legislature when considering the bill. So that when the bills are eventually passed it would be easier to implement.

"This is unprecedented because this is the very first time in this administration that eight bills are forwarded to the President at a go for assent.

"In all my years in the National Assembly p, except for the 46 bills which were passed a day to the end of that administration, no such number of bills has been passed and forwarded at once ‎to the President for assent and no such number of bills has been assented to at a record time.

"I also consider it a record that bills have been passed on various sector‎ and in giving assent to the bill it did not lead to rancour or disputation as to what should be in and what should not be in.

"This shows that the executive and the legislature are working together because the ministers attended every hearing that were called in respect of the bill.

"There is no bill pending assent ‎before Mr. President, all bills sent to him has been assented to."