EHICHIOYA EZOMON 
‘In the absence of any punishment for bad behaviour, indiscipline festers in a cyclical, uncontrolled motion!” -Ezomon 2025
On Tuesday, October 21, and Thursday, October 23, 2025, respectively, Nigeria’s House of Representatives passed off what’s obviously a dereliction of duty by members of its committees, some of whom failed, for over a year, to report on Referral Bills assigned to them for preliminary legislation within 75 days.
In a unanimous adoption of a motion, the House, at separate plenaries, formally discharged the 22 committees of the bills and committed the same to the “Committee of the Whole” for completion of the legislative actions. Reports by New Telegraph on October 21, PUNCH on October 22, and PREMIUM TIMES on October 23, listed 10 of the recalled bills and the defaulting committees the House discharged on October 21, as follows:
• The Niger Delta Development Commission Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 (HB. 154), referred to Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission on February 29, 2024; Factoring Assignment and Receivables Financing (Establishment) Bill, 2023 (HB. 516), to Committee on Banking Regulations on October 15, 2024; and Interpretation Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 (HB. 27), to Committee on Justice on November 1, 2023.
• The Nigerian Authors Trust Fund (Establishment) Bill, 2023 (HB. 28), referred to Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values on October 18, 2023; National Park Service Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 (HB. 575), to Committee on Environment on November 26, 2024; and National Commission for Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Installations (NC-DOGI) Bill, 2024 (HB. 1968), to Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) on December 5, 2024.
• The Poverty Alleviation and Skill Acquisition Centre (Establishment) Bill, 2023 (HB. 75), referred to Committee on Poverty Alleviation on December 12, 2024; Federal Polytechnics Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024 (HB. 2114), to Committee on Federal Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education on March 4, 2025; Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025 (HB. 2025), to Committee on Special Duties and Aviation on May 14, 2025; and Chartered Institute of Public Health Studies (Establishment) Bill, 2023 (HB. 161), referred to Committee on Health Institutions on June 6, 2024. Similarly on Thursday, October 23, 2025, as PREMIUM TIMES reported the same day, the House discharged the committees of 12 referral bills, and committed the same to the Committee of the Whole for consideration. They include:
• The Nigerian National Honours and Merit Award Commission Bill, 2023, referred to the Committee on Inter-Governmental Affairs on October 23, 2024; National Primary Education Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2023, to Committee on Basic Education and Services on May 8, 2025; and The Voting Rights of Nigerian Citizens Living Outside Nigeria Bill, 2023, referred to Committee on Electoral Matters on July 9, 2024
; • National Assembly Infrastructure and Property Agency (Establishment) Bill, 2025, to Committee on House Services on February 18, 2025; Federal Polytechnics (Amendment) Bill, 2025, to Committee on Federal Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education on March 4, 2025; and The Federal College of Nursing and Midwifery, Zaria (Establishment) Bill, 2025, referred to Committee on Health Institutions on March 11, 2025;
• Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025, to Committee on Agricultural Colleges and Institutions on March 12, 2025; Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025, to Committee on Livestock Development on March 18, 2025; and The Federal Medical Centres Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025, referred to Committee on Health Institutions on March 18, 2025;
• National Assembly Service Pension Board Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025, to Committee on Public Service Matters on May 8, 2025; Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024, to Committee on Electoral Matters on May 15, 2025; and Petroleum Training Institute, Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State (Establishment) Bill, 2023, referred to Committee on Petroleum Resources (Training Fund). Under Section 60 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as updated), the Senate or the House of Representatives of the National Assembly “shall have power to regulate its own procedure, including the procedure for summoning and recess of the House.”
To put it mildly, the House was dissatisfied with the committees’ failure to perform an important function of enacting legislation for passage into law…
Going by Section 62(1) of the Constitution, the House of Representatives sets up committees under its Standing Orders; and under Order 18, Rule 3(g) of the Standing Orders, refers bills to committees for initial legislation before consideration by the Committee of the Whole.
Order 18, Rule 3(g) of the Standing Orders stipulates that: “Any matter referred to any Committee shall be treated within 30 days, otherwise the Committee shall stand discharged after 60 days, and unless an extension of up to 15 days is granted, the matter is committed to the Committee of the Whole or another Committee as determined by the Speaker.”
It’s unclear if the 22 committees were granted extensions of 15 days, thus totalling 75 days to turn in their reports; but having failed to treat the Referral Bills within the stipulated period of 30 days, then 60 days, the House, on October 8, 2025, with Deputy Speaker Ben Kalu (APC, Abia) presiding, gave the committees a one-week ultimatum to deliver their reports.
Having defaulted again, the House, via a motion by the Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Francis Waive (APC, Delta), seconded by the Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers), withdrew, and committed the bills to the Committee of the Whole, to complete the legislative actions. To put it mildly, the House was dissatisfied with the committees’ failure to perform an important function of enacting legislation for passage into law – the reason the legislators have about 75 days at the committee stage to bring the legislation to completion.
The question(s) would be the consequence(s) for the committee members! What kind of sanction(s) is recommended for such a dereliction of duty? Was the penalty imposed? Did the House simply slap the members’ wrists, and ask them to mend their ways? What precedent will that set for other House members, who, in future, may fail to adhere to the Standing Orders on committee assignments? No reports indicating that members of the committees were reprimanded, sanctioned, or punished for dereliction of duty.
Instead, the bills were withdrawn and committed to the Committee of the Whole for consideration, in line with Order 18, Rule 11(5) of the House Standing Orders, which reaffirms Order 18, Rule 3(g) of the Standing Orders. Besides accountability to the House, it would have been appropriate to publicise the defaulting committee members’ names for the legislative laxity, which would expose them to the public, and their constituents as not adequately representing them in the National Assembly.
In the absence of any punishment for bad behaviour, indiscipline festers in a cyclical, uncontrolled motion! This is the message the Nigerian House of Representatives passes on to its members: That there’s no consequence(s) for dereliction of duty on committee assignments. And the beat goes on until the House decides to break with indiscipline!
