Tinubu Writes Reps, Transmits 2 Bills, Rejects 2

President Bola Tinubu has transmitted two executive bills to the House of Representatives for consideration, including proposals to strengthen the administration of senior secondary education and overhaul Nigeria’s criminal justice system.

The president informed the Green Chamber of his decision to withhold assent to two amendment bills passed by the National Assembly.

These were contained in letters read on the floor of the House by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, during plenary on Wednesday.

The first executive bill, titled the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to strengthen the administration and governance of public senior secondary education across Nigeria.

In his letter, President Tinubu said the amendment bill was approved by the Federal Executive Council at its 30 April 2026 meeting, before being vetted and finalised by the Federal Ministry of Justice in line with constitutional and legislative drafting standards.

He stated that the proposed legislation is part of his administration’s commitment to strengthening educational institutions in the national interest and urged lawmakers to give the bill expeditious consideration.

The President also transmitted the Administration of Criminal Justice Bill, 2026, which seeks to repeal the existing Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015 and replace it with a new legal framework aimed at addressing procedural, legal and institutional challenges affecting the country’s criminal justice system.

According to the President, the proposed legislation is designed to promote efficient management of criminal justice institutions, accelerate the dispensation of justice, protect society from crime and safeguard the rights of suspects, defendants and victims.

He explained that the new bill would apply to the Federal Capital Territory and other federal courts while strengthening the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Council.

Tinubu said the proposed law addresses persistent challenges under the 2015 Act, including delays in criminal investigations and prosecutions, poor deployment of technology in criminal proceedings, weak coordination among justice sector institutions, ineffective case management systems and inadequate monitoring of compliance with the law.

Among the major reforms contained in the bill are the abolition of trial-within-trial proceedings for confessional statements by introducing new admissibility procedures, the establishment of a national sex offenders register to be maintained by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the creation of a Witness Support Fund for prompt payment of witness expenses and the introduction of plea forms to simplify arraignment procedures.

Other provisions include mandatory timelines for courts to determine no-case submissions, wider use of written witness depositions to speed up trials, enhanced judicial case management, restructuring of the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Council with broader stakeholder representation, appointment of an Executive Secretary for the council, powers for the Attorney-General to issue implementation regulations, and measures to eliminate repeated trials arising from the death, retirement or transfer of judges.

The President urged the House to consider and pass the bill expeditiously. Meanwhile, Tinubu declined assent to the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (Amendment) Bill, 2026, citing constitutional and legal concerns over several provisions.

He argued that while most of the proposed amendments were commendable, some clauses improperly sought to grant the institute regulatory powers over private and incorporated entities.

According to the President, the provisions requiring organisations to report procurement appointments to the institute, imposing financial penalties on employers who appoint non-members to head procurement units, compelling organisations to notify the institute of staff removals, empowering the institute to institute legal action against non-members and authorising inspection visits to companies amount to unreasonable restrictions and exceed the institute’s statutory powers.

Tinubu maintained that the institute is not the regulator of procurement practice in Nigeria and therefore cannot compel independent organisations to comply with such provisions.

He advised the National Assembly to address the identified issues and retransmit the bill for presidential assent. The President also withheld assent to the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (Amendment) Bill, 2026, saying the legislation contained structural errors and drafting defects.

According to the letter, the bill failed to reflect its key objectives in its long title properly and contained defects requiring correction before it could receive presidential approval.