President Muhammadu Buhari has refused to sign three bills passed by the National Assembly.
In a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, dated January 25, signed by the President and read on the floor by Dogara, Buhari gave reasons for not signing the bills.
The letter, titled: “Presidential decision to decline assent to 3(three) Bills recently passed by the National Assembly in December 2017”, reads: “Pursuant to Section 58 (4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), I hereby convey to the House of Representatives, my decision on 25th January, 2018 to decline Presidential Assent to 3 (three) Bills recently passed by the National Assembly.
“Police Procurement Fund ( Establishment ) Bill, 2017- due to lack of clarity regarding the manner of disbursement of funds, as well as Constitutional issues regarding the powers of the National Assembly to appropriate funds allocated to the 36 state governments and 784 local governments, which conflicts with Section 80 – 82 and 120 of the1999 Constitution (as amended).
“Chartered Institute of Public Management of Nigeria Bill, 2017 – due to lack of clarity over the scope of the profession of “public management” that this Bill prohibits all persons who are not members of the Institute from practicing; and
“Nigerian Council for Social Work (Establishment ) Bill, 2017- due to lack of clarity over the scope of the profession of ‘Social Work’ that this Bill prohibits all persons who are not members of the Institute from practicing.”