Arguably, 2022 was not an eventful year for the ninth national assembly
led by Senate President Ahmad Lawan, largely due to the looming
all-important 2023 elections.
The current national assembly has
been heavily criticised for fulfilling almost every demand of the executive arm
of government. On different occasions, Lawan had said the legislature and the
executive arms of governments need to work “harmoniously” for the benefit of
the country – a position that has been largely rebuffed by the opposition and
many stakeholders.
And that has earned the ninth
national assembly the moniker — “rubber stamp”.
Whatever the working relationship between these two arms of government, it has resulted in a number
Here are some of the bills passed
by the national assembly and assented to by Buhari in 2022:
Electoral Act amendment Bill
In February, the president signed a bill that
repealed the 2010 Electoral Act and replaced it with the 2022 Electoral Act.
The bill was finally signed after
the national assembly reworked it and sent it back to Buhari. The president
initially rejected the bill after the national assembly made direct primary
compulsory for political parties in the country.
The law, it is hoped, will help
to improve the conduct of elections in 2023.
Startup Act
In October, the president signed the Startup Bill
2022 into law. The law was initiated by the executive arm of government and
sent to the national assembly to work on.
The law seeks to create and
develop an enabling environment for technology-enabled startups in the country,
as well as provide them access to special seed funds.
With the document, companies will
be required to obtain a certificate known as the ‘startup label’ before they
can be regarded as a startup entity.
Counselling Practitioners
Council Act
In August, the president signed
the Counselling Practitioners Council Bill into law.
The new council is saddled with
the responsibility of advancing the study, training and practice of the
counselling profession.
The new law spelt out the level
of knowledge and skill to be attained by persons seeking to become
“The act also empowers the
council to secure the professional status and do all such things as may be
necessary to promote the interest of its members and the advancement of the art
and science of counselling knowledge and efficiency in counselling management
and administration in the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy,”
Nasir Illa, senior special assistant to the president on national assembly
matters, had said.
Anti-money laundering bills
In May, the president signed
three bills into law to improve the country’s efforts in curbing money
laundering.
The bills are the Money
Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022; the Terrorism (Prevention
and Prohibition) Bill, 2022; and the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and
Management) Bill, 2022.
At the signing ceremony, Buhari
said the bills were in tandem with his administration’s commitment to
fighting corruption and illicit financing activities, as well as critical to
the governance agenda and the development of Nigeria.
“The new laws have provided
enough punitive measures and containment strategies against abuses and
compromises,” he had said.
National health insurance bill
In May, Buhari signed the National
Health Insurance Authority Bill 2022 into law which repeals the National Health
Insurance Scheme Act 2004.
The law is targeted at providing
health coverage for 83 million poor Nigerians who cannot access premium
services.
Under the new law, the health
insurance authority and state governments will also develop information
management systems and digital records for better data collection, monitoring,
and quality assurance.
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