Reps in rowdy session, diff er over citizenship, FCT minister’s bills

House of Representatives was yesterday thrown into a momentary rowdy session, over confusion in the vote on the bill seeking to make married woman claim the indigeneship of the place of her husband. Speaker Yakubu Dogara had reported 216 as the ‘yes’ votes of members in support of the bill, a number that fell short of the constitutionally required 240 as two-third majority of members, to make a bill pass, while shortly after, the electronic results board displayed 274. The confusion sparked up an instant uproar from mostly, women members of the House who started shouting foul, and brought the voting process to a halt, and close to an hour. When normalcy returned, Dogara appealed to his colleagues that no ill was meant, and called for a repeat of the voting, but same still produced only 208 ‘yes’ votes which was still far short of the required. Unlike the Senate, the House, however, voted against the bill seeking provision for a minister in the federal cabinet to be appointed from Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, as is the case for the 36 states of the federation.

The bill got only 191 ‘yes’ votes, 91 ‘no’ votes, while three members abstained. The bill which seeks the lowering of eligibility age for elections to a minimum of 25, while it enjoyed massive support by members who in solitary were waving promotion posters of the bill, described by the Speaker as being “in the interest of the youth which we must empower because if we empower them we are empowering the future generation.” Addressing newsmen yesterday, spokesman of the House, Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas, said the House had kept its promise to Nigerians of delivering the document in time. The voting pattern on some of the bills were as follows: Membership of the Council of State To Include former Senate President & House of

Reps Speakers as members: Yes – 274, No – 6, Abstain – 2; Reduction of Authorisation of expenditure Before Budget Passage from 6 to 3 months, Yes-295, No-0, Abstain: 0, and Devolution of Powers to States; Yes-210, No- 71, Abstain-0. Financial Autonomy for State Legislature; Yes-286, No-10, Abstain-1; Financial Autonomy to LGs, Yes-281, No-12, Abstain-1; Democratic Existence, Funding and Tenure of LGs, Yes-285, No-7, Abstain-1, and so many others.

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