0
Torkwase Nyiekaa
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday advanced his administration’s legislative reform agenda by forwarding two executive bills to the House of Representatives aimed at strengthening senior secondary education and overhauling Nigeria’s criminal justice system, while declining assent to two amendment bills passed by the National Assembly over constitutional and drafting concerns.
The President’s decisions were conveyed in separate letters read during plenary by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas.
One of the proposed legislations, the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to strengthen the administration, governance and funding framework for public senior secondary education across the country.
In his letter, Tinubu explained that the amendment bill was approved by the Federal Executive Council at its meeting of April 30, 2026, before being vetted and finalised by the Federal Ministry of Justice in line with constitutional and legislative drafting standards.
He said the proposed legislation forms part of his administration’s commitment to strengthening educational institutions and improving learning outcomes nationwide, urging lawmakers to give it 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 more comprehensive legal framework designed to address procedural, legal and institutional challenges affecting the country’s criminal justice system.
According to Tinubu, the proposed legislation is intended 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 law would apply to the Federal Capital Territory and federal courts while strengthening the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Council to improve oversight and implementation.
The President noted that the bill addresses persistent weaknesses under the 2015 Act, including delays in criminal investigations and prosecutions, inadequate deployment of technology in criminal proceedings, weak coordination among justice sector institutions, ineffective case management systems and poor monitoring of compliance with the law.
Among the major reforms proposed are the abolition of trial-within-trial proceedings for confessional statements through 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 determining no-case submissions, wider use of written witness depositions to speed up criminal trials, enhanced judicial case management, restructuring of the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Council to broaden stakeholder representation, the appointment of an Executive Secretary for the Council, powers for the Attorney-General to issue implementation regulations and measures to eliminate repeated trials resulting from the death, retirement or transfer of judges.
Tinubu appealed to lawmakers to give the bill expeditious consideration.
However, the President withheld assent to the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (Amendment) Bill, 2026, citing constitutional and legal concerns over several of its provisions.
While acknowledging that many of the proposed amendments were commendable, he argued that some clauses improperly sought to confer regulatory powers on the institute beyond its statutory mandate.
According to him, provisions requiring organisations to report procurement appointments to the institute, penalising employers who appoint non-members to head procurement units, compelling organisations to notify the institute of staff removals, empowering the institute to institute legal proceedings against non-members and authorising inspection visits to companies amount to unreasonable restrictions and exceed the institute’s legal authority.
Tinubu maintained that the institute is not the statutory 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 concerns and retransmit the bill for presidential assent.
The President also declined assent to the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (Amendment) Bill, 2026, saying it contained structural inconsistencies and drafting defects.
According to the letter, the legislation failed to adequately reflect its principal objectives in its long title and contained drafting errors requiring correction before it could receive presidential approval.
The latest correspondence reflects the continuing engagement between the Executive and the National Assembly on key policy reforms, with the President seeking legislative backing for new initiatives while exercising his constitutional powers to return bills requiring further refinement before they can become law.