Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has withheld presidential assent to two bills passed by the National Assembly, citing significant constitutional, drafting and structural deficiencies that must be corrected before the proposed legislations could become law.
The president’s decision, communicated to the Senate yesterday through two separate letters, affected the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (Establishment) Amendment Bill.
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, read both communications during plenary and subsequently referred them to the Senate Committee on Rules and Business for further legislative action, directing the panel to report back within four weeks.
Invoking Section 58(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Tinubu explained that he was compelled to withhold assent because both bills contained defects that would undermine their legal effectiveness if enacted in their current form.
On the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (Amendment) Bill, the president said the proposed legislation suffered from major drafting flaws and structural inconsistencies that rendered it incoherent.
He observed that the long title of the bill failed to capture its principal policy objective of promoting the development, protection, processing and value addition of Nigeria’s raw materials as well as strengthening local manufacturing industries.
According to him, the long title should expressly reflect those objectives to properly align with the substance of the proposed amendment.
Tinubu also identified inconsistencies in Section 2 of the bill, noting that it incorrectly presented the Council’s statutory functions as legislative objectives.
He explained that while objectives merely express policy intentions, operational functions were enforceable legal provisions and should not be conflated.
The President further faulted the placement of new provisions relating to value addition to raw materials, saying they were improperly inserted between existing sections dealing with the Council’s finances and annual accounts.
He warned that the arrangement distorted the structure of the principal Act and made the amendment difficult to interpret.
“These erroneous insertions make the Bill incoherent and difficult to comprehend within the context of the Principal Act. Accordingly, the Bill as currently proposed is disjointed,” Tinubu stated in the letter.
The president equally declined assent to the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (Establishment) Amendment Bill, arguing that some of its provisions sought to grant the Institute regulatory powers far beyond its statutory mandate.
While acknowledging that most of the proposed amendments were commendable, Tinubu said certain clauses would impose obligations and enforcement powers that the Institute is not legally empowered to exercise.
He specifically objected to amendments proposing new sub-clauses to Section 11 of the principal Act, including a provision requiring companies and other incorporated organisations to notify the Institute within one month of appointing heads of procurement and supply chain.
According to the president, the institute cannot compel independent organisations to submit such information because it was not their statutory regulator.
“The Institute, not being the regulator, cannot force incorporated entities or organisations that are independent and perhaps not registered members of the Institute to furnish such particulars,” he stated.
Tinubu also rejected provisions empowering the institute to inspect organisations, sanction employers and enforce compliance on entities established under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, describing such powers as inconsistent with the Institute’s legal mandate.
Despite withholding assent, the President indicated that the legislation could still receive his approval once the identified deficiencies were corrected.
“Subject to the correction of the above issues, the Bill may be suitable for retransmission for assent,” he stated.
Following the reading of both presidential communications, Akpabio referred the bills to the Senate Committee on Rules and Business for necessary legislative action.
Under Section 58(4) of the Constitution, the president is empowered to decline assent to any bill passed by the National Assembly and return it with observations for reconsideration.
The legislature might amend the bills in line with the president’s recommendations or, where necessary, override the presidential veto in accordance with constitutional provisions.
