You're pretty you're pretty
From Roach Busters
CHAPTER I
PART I
THE LEGISLATURE
Legislative power
1. The legislative power of the Federation shall be vested in the Legislature which shall consist of the President and the Congress.
The Congress
2. The Congress of _____ shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
PART II
THE SENATE
Constitution of Senate
3. (1) The Senate shall be composed of six Senators for each State, elected by the sitting members of the Legislative Assembly for that State.
(2) The election of Senators shall take place according to the principle of proportional representation, each voter having one transferable vote.
(3) The Senate shall be a permanent body and the term of office of a senator shall not be affected, and the seat of a senator shall not become vacant by reason of a dissolution of Congress.
(4) One-third of the senators shall retire every second year.
(5) Subject to the provisions of section _____, the term of office of a senator shall be six years from the date of his election:
Provided that ―
(a) a person who is elected a senator to fill a casual vacancy shall be deemed to be elected to serve only for the remainder of his predecessor's term of office;
(b) a person who is elected to fill a vacancy caused by the termination of a senator's period of office by effluxion of time shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to have been elected on such termination.
(6) A separate election shall be held for the filling of each casual vacancy among the elected senators.
(7) In this section, the expression "casual vacancy" means a vacancy occurring otherwise than by the termination of a senator's period of office by effluxion of time.
Failure to choose senators
4. The Senate may proceed to the dispatch of business, notwithstanding the failure of any State to provide for its representation in the Senate.
Rotation of senators
5. For the purpose of securing that one-third of the senators shall retire every second year, at the first meeting of the Senate under this Constitution, the Senate shall by lot divide the senators into three classes; and the term of office of the senators of the first class shall terminate at the expiry of a period of two years, the term of office of the senators of the second class shall terminate at the expiry of a period of four years, and the term of office of the senators of the third class shall terminate at the expiry of a period of six years, from the date of election.
Qualifications of members
6. No person shall be qualified to be a member of the Senate under this Constitution unless —
(a) he is a citizen of _____;
(b) he has attained the age of 30 years;
(c) he is qualified for registration as a voter for the purposes of the election of members of the House of Representatives and is so registered;
(d) he is not subject to any of the disqualifications specified in section twenty-nine;
(e) he is able to speak, and, unless incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, to read English well enough to take an active part in the proceedings of the Senate; and
(f) he has been domiciled in _____ for a period of at least five years.
President and Deputy President of the Senate
7. (1) The Vice-President of _____ shall be ex-officio President of the Senate:
Provided that during any period when the Vice-President acts as President or discharges the functions of the President under section _____, he shall not perform the duties of the office of President of the Senate and shall not be entitled to any salary or allowance payable to the President of the Senate under section twenty-four.
(2) The Senate shall, before proceeding to the dispatch of any other business, elect a senator, not being a Minister or a Deputy Minister, to be the Deputy President of the Senate, and, whenever the office of the Deputy President of the Senate becomes vacant the Senate shall not transact any other business until a person to fill that office has been elected.
(3) The Deputy President of the Senate shall be elected in accordance with the Standing Orders.
(4) The Deputy President may at any time resign his office by notice in writing to the Secretary to Congress and shall vacate his office ―
(a) upon his death; or
(b) if he ceases to be a senator; or
(c) if he is required by virtue of the provisions of twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty or thirty-one to cease to exercise any of his functions as a senator; or
(d) if he becomes a Minister or a Deputy Minister.
Vacancy
8. (1) The seat of a senator shall become vacant ―
(a) upon his death; or
(b) if, by writing under his hand, addressed to the Secretary to Congress, he resigns his seat; or
(c) if he is required by virtue of the provisions of section twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty or thirty-one to cease to exercise any of his functions as a senator; or
(d) if, without the leave of the Senate first obtained, he absents himself from the sittings of the Senate during a continuous period of three months; or
(e) upon the termination of his term of office.
(2) As often as there is a vacancy among the members elected to the Senate by a State the Secretary to Congress shall give notice to the Governor of the State in the representation of which the vacancy has happened that an election of a senator is required and the Governor shall require the Legislative Assembly to elect a senator as soon as may be.
(3) The resignation of a member of the Senate shall not become effective to render the seat of that member vacant under the provisions of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) in any case in which —
(a) proceedings are pending in respect of that member's election, if it is alleged that illegal or corrupt practices took place at such election; or
(b) proceedings in the Senate are contemplated or pending in respect of that member's conduct in or as a member of the Senate;
unless the Senate by resolution accepts the resignation.
Quorum
9. The presence of at least one-third of the whole number of the senators shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the Senate for the exercise of its powers.
Voting in Senate
10. (1) Questions arising in the Senate shall be determined by a majority of votes, and each senator shall have one vote.
(2) All questions in the Senate shall be determined by a majority of votes of senators present other than the President of the Senate or the presiding senator, who shall, however, have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.
PART III
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution of House of Representatives
11. The House of Representatives shall be composed of one hundred and fifty members, each of whom shall be directly elected by the persons entitled to vote at an election of such a member in an electoral division delimited as provided in section thirteen.
Elections
12. (1) A general election of members of the House of Representatives shall be held on such day within a period not exceeding four months after the issue of a proclamation dissolving Congress as the President may in that proclamation fix.
(2) At any general election of members of the House of Representatives under this Constitution, all polls shall be taken on one and the same day in all the electoral divisions throughout _____.
Delimitation of electoral divisions
13. (1) At intervals of not less than five years and not more than ten years, the President shall appoint a delimitation commission consisting of three judges of the Supreme Court of _____, which shall divide each State into so many electoral divisions that their number bears, as nearly as possible, the same ratio to one hundred and fifty as, in terms of the current voters’ lists, duly corrected up to the latest possible date, the number of voters in that State bears to the total number of voters in _____.
(2) In dividing a State into electoral divisions in terms of subsection (1) the said commission shall act in accordance with the provisions of section fourteen.
Method of dividing States into electoral divisions
14. (1) For the purposes of any division of the States into electoral divisions, the quota of each State shall be obtained by dividing the total number of voters in the State as ascertained from an examination of the current voters’ lists by the number of members of the House of Representatives to be elected therein.
(2) Each State shall be divided into electoral divisions in such a manner that each such division shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (3), contain a number of voters as nearly as may be equal to the quota of the State.
(3) The delimitation commission shall give due consideration to ―
(a) community or diversity of interests;
(b) means of communication;
(c) physical features;
(d) boundaries of existing electoral divisions;
(e) sparsity or density of population,
in such manner that, while taking the quota of voters as the basis of division, the commission may depart therefrom whenever it is deemed necessary, but in no case to any greater extent than fifteen per cent more or fifteen per cent less than the quota.
Powers and duties of commission for delimiting electoral divisions
15. (1) A commission constituted under the provisions of section thirteen shall submit to the President ―
(a) a list of electoral divisions, with the names given to them by the commission and a description of the boundaries of every such division;
(b) a map or maps showing the electoral divisions into which the States have been divided;
(c) such further particulars as it considers necessary.
(2) The President may refer to the commission for its consideration all matters relating to such list or arising out of the powers or duties of the commission.
(3) The President shall by proclamation in the Gazette make known the names and boundaries of the electoral divisions as finally settled and certified by the commission, or a majority thereof, and thereafter, until there shall be a re-division, the electoral divisions as named and defined shall be the electoral divisions of _____ in the States.
(4) If any discrepancy arises between the description of the divisions and the aforesaid map or maps, the description shall prevail.
Date from which alteration of electoral divisions takes effect
16. Any alteration in the number of members of the House of Representatives to be elected in the several States, and any re-division of the provinces into electoral divisions, shall, in respect of the election of members of the House of Representatives, come into operation at the next general election held after the completion of the re-division or of any allocation consequent upon such alteration, and not earlier.
Qualifications of members
17. No person shall be qualified to be a member of the House of Representatives under this Constitution unless —
(a) he is a citizen of _____;
(b) he has attained the age of 25 years;
(c) he is qualified for registration as a voter for the purposes of the election of members of the House of Representatives and is so registered;
(d) he is not subject to any of the disqualifications specified in section twenty-nine;
(e) he is able to speak, and, unless incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, to read English well enough to take an active part in the proceedings of the House of Representatives; and
(f) he has been domiciled in _____ for a period of at least five years.
Duration of House of Representatives
18. Every House of Representatives shall continue for five years from the first meeting thereof, and no longer, but may be sooner dissolved by the President.
Election of Speaker
19. (1) The House of Representatives shall, before proceeding to the dispatch of any other business, elect a member of the House of Representatives, not being a Minister or a Deputy Minister, to be Speaker of the House of Representatives, and, whenever the office of the Speaker becomes vacant the House of Representatives shall not transact any other business until a person to fill that office has been elected.
(2) The Speaker shall be elected in accordance with the Standing Orders.
Tenure of office of Speaker
20. (1) The Speaker of the House of Representatives may at any time resign his office either by announcing his resignation in person to the House of Representatives or by notice in writing to the Secretary to Congress.
(2) The Speaker shall vacate his office ―
(a) upon his death; or
(b) on the dissolution of Congress next following his election; or
(c) if he becomes a Minister or a Deputy Minister; or
(d) if he is elected as a senator;
(e) if he ceases to be a member of the House of Representatives; or
(f) if he is required by virtue of the provisions of section twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty or thirty-one to cease to exercise any of his functions as a member of the House of Representatives.
(3) The office of the Speaker shall become vacant if the House of Representatives, by an affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House of Representatives, resolves that the office of the Speaker shall become vacant.
(4) Any function of the Speaker which is required to be performed on the polling day after a dissolution of Congress or between that day and the day when the House of Representatives first meets thereafter shall be performed by the person who was the Speaker immediately before the polling day:
Provided that if at any time after the dissolution of Congress the person who was the Speaker immediately before such dissolution relinquishes the functions of that office by notice in writing to the President or is for any reason unable to perform them, those functions shall be performed by the Secretary to Congress or by some other person appointed by the President in that behalf.
Deputy Speaker
21. (1) As soon as practicable after the election of the Speaker in terms of section nineteen, the House of Representatives shall elect a member of the House of Representatives, not being a Minister or a Deputy Minister, to be the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and to be chairman when the House of Representatives is in Committee and, whenever the office of the Deputy Speaker becomes vacant otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of Parliament, the House of Representatives shall as soon as convenient elect another such member to that office.
(2) The Deputy Speaker shall be elected in accordance with the Standing Orders.
(3) The Deputy Speaker may at any time resign his office by notice in writing to the Clerk to the House of Representatives and shall vacate his office ―
(a) upon his death; or
(b) if he ceases to be a member of the House of Representatives; or
(c) if he is required by virtue of the provisions of section twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty or thirty-one to cease to exercise any of his functions as a member of the House of Representatives; or
(d) if he becomes a Minister or a Deputy Minister.
Vacancy
22. (1) The seat of a member of the House of Representatives shall become vacant ―
(a) upon his death; or
(b) if, by writing under his hand, addressed to the Secretary to Congress, he resigns his seat; or
(c) on the dissolution of Congress next following his election; or
(d) if he is elected as a senator;
(e) if he is required by virtue of the provisions of section twenty-eight, twenty-nine or thirty to cease to exercise any of his functions as a member of the House of Representatives; or
(f) if, without the leave of the House of Representatives first obtained, he absents himself from the sittings of the House of Representatives during a continuous period of three months; or
(g) upon the termination of his term of office.
(2) Whenever a vacancy happens in the House of Representatives, the Speaker shall issue his writ for the election of a new member.
(3) The resignation of a member of the House of Representatives shall not become effective to render the seat of that member vacant under the provisions of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) in any case in which —
(a) proceedings are pending in respect of that member's election, if it is alleged that illegal or corrupt practices took place at such election; or
(b) proceedings in the House of Representatives are contemplated or pending in respect of that member's conduct in or as a member of the House of Representatives;
unless the House of Representatives by resolution accepts the resignation.
Quorum
23. The presence of at least one-third of the whole number of the members of the House of Representatives shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the House of Representatives for the exercise of its powers.
Voting in House of Representatives
24. All questions in the House of Representatives shall be determined by a majority of votes of members present other than the Speaker or the presiding member, who shall, however, have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.
PART IV
SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Remuneration of President of Senate and Speaker
25. (1) There shall be charged upon and paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the President of the Senate, and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, such salaries as may be prescribed from time to time by a law of the Legislature and such allowances as may be prescribed by or under such law.
(2) The salary of the President of the Senate or of the Speaker shall not be reduced during his continuance in office.
Powers of Ministers and Deputy Ministers in Senate and House of Representatives
26. A Minister or Deputy Minister who is a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall have the right to sit and speak both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives but shall vote only in the House of which he is a member.
Vacating of seats by members
27. (1) A member of the Senate who is elected as a member of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat as a senator with effect from the date on which he becomes a member of the House of Representatives.
(2) A member of the House of Representatives who is elected as a senator shall vacate his seat as a member of the House of Representatives with effect from the day on which he becomes a member of the Senate.
Tenure of seat of members of Senate or House of Representatives
28. (1) The seat of a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall become vacant —
(a) if he accepts any public office; or
(b) if he ceases to be qualified for election to the Senate or to the House of Representatives, as the case may be; or
(c) if he becomes subject to any of the disabilities mentioned in section twenty-nine; or
(d) in the circumstances set out in section thirty; or
(e) if he is required, by virtue of the provisions of section thirty-one, to vacate his seat.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of subsection (1), a person shall not be deemed to have accepted a public office by reason of —
(a) accepting appointment as a Minister or a Deputy Minister; or
(b) holding any office for which no renumeration is paid other than payment by way of traveling or subsistence allowances or out-of-pocket expenses.
Disqualifications from being a member of Senate or House of Representatives
29. (1) No person shall be capable of being elected or of sitting as a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives, if he —
(a) has voluntarily acquired citizenship of a country other than _____ or has made a declaration of allegiance to such a country; or
(b) is adjudged to be a lunatic or otherwise declared to be of unsound mind by a competent court; or
(c) is an undischarged bankrupt, having been adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in any part of the Federation.
Members sentenced to death or to imprisonment
30. (1) In the event of a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives being convicted —
(a) within _____ of a criminal offense; or
(b) outside _____ of an offense, by whatever name called, which if committed in _____ would have been a criminal offense;
and being sentenced by a court to death or imprisonment, by whatever name called, for a term of six months or more, such member shall cease forthwith to exercise his functions or to be entitled to any renumeration as a member and, subject to the other provisions of this section, his seat shall become vacant at the expiration of thirty days from the date of such sentence.
(2) When during the period of thirty days referred to in subsection (1), an application for a free pardon is made or an appeal is filed, the question whether the member is to vacate his seat shall not be determined until the final disposal of such application or appeal, whereupon the member shall forthwith vacate his seat unless —
(a) he is granted a free pardon; or
(b) his conviction is set aside; or
(c) his sentence is reduced to a term of imprisonment of less than six months; or
(d) a punishment other than imprisonment is substituted.
(3) Where as a consequence of the final disposal of the application or appeal of the member, his conviction or sentence is varied in any manner specified in paragraphs (a) to (d) of subsection (2), the member shall not vacate his seat, unless he has previously resigned, but shall be entitled to resume his functions as a member and to receive renumeration as such for the period during which he ceased to exercise his functions as a member by reason of the other provisions of this section.
(4) For the purposes of this section —
(a) two or more sentences of imprisonment that are required to be served consecutively shall be regarded as a single term of imprisonment for the aggregate period of those terms;
(b) two or more sentences of imprisonment that are required to be served concurrently shall be regarded as a single term of imprisonment for the period of the longest of such terms;
(c) a person shall be regarded as sentenced notwithstanding that the execution of the sentence or any part thereof has been suspended;
(d) no account shall be taken of any sentence of imprisonment imposed as an alternative to, or in default of, the payment of a fine.
Expulsion or suspension of members convicted of certain offenses
31. (1) If —
(a) a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives is convicted of an offense described in subsection (1) of section thirty and is sentenced to imprisonment for a lesser period than that specified in that subsection or to a fine or other punishment not specified in that subsection; and
(b) the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be, after taking into account the nature of the offense and the sentence imposed, resolves by the affirmative votes of not less than two-thirds of its total membership that the member is unfit to continue as a member or that the member should be suspended from the service of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be, for such period, not exceeding six months, as the Senate or the House of Representatives may specify;
the member shall forthwith vacate his seat or, as the case may be, be suspended from the service of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be, for the period so specified.
(2) A member of the Senate or the House of Representatives who is suspended from the service of the Senate or the House of Representatives in terms of subsection (1) shall not exercise his functions and shall not be entitled to any renumeration as a member during the period of his suspension.
Penalty for sitting or voting when disqualified
32. If any person who is by law incapable of sitting as a Senator or member of the House of Representatives shall, while so disqualified and knowing or having reasonable grounds for knowing that he is so disqualified, sit or vote as a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives, he shall be liable to a penalty of five hundred dollars for each day on which he shall so sit or vote, to be recovered on behalf of the Consolidated Revenue Fund by action of the Supreme Court.
Validity of proceedings
33. Subject to the provisions of section _____, the Senate or the House of Representatives shall not be disqualified for the transaction of business by reason of any vacancy among the members thereof, including any vacancy not filled when the Senate or the House of Representatives is reconstituted at any time or when a member is suspended in terms of section thirty or thirty-one and any proceedings therein shall be valid notwithstanding that some person who was not entitled so to do sat or voted in the Senate or the House of Representatives or otherwise took part in the proceedings.
PART V
GENERAL POWERS AND PROCEDURE
Power to make laws
34. (1) The Legislature shall be the sovereign legislative power in and over _____.
(2) The Legislature shall have power to make laws, to be entitled “Acts”, for the peace, order and good government of the Federation with respect to any matter included in the Exclusive Legislative List.
(3) The power of the Legislature to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation with respect to any matter included in the Exclusive Legislative List shall, save as otherwise provided in this Constitution, be to the exclusion of the Legislative Assemblies of States.
(4) In addition and without prejudice to the powers conferred by subsection (2) of this section, the Legislature shall have power to make laws with respect to the following matters, that is to say —
(a) any matter in the Concurrent Legislative List; and
(b) any other matter with respect to which it is empowered to make laws in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
Standing Orders
35. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Senate and the House of Representatives may, jointly or severally as may be appropriate, make Standing Orders with respect to —
(a) the passing, instituting, and numbering of Bills;
(b) any manner in connection with which Standing Orders may be made in terms of this Constitution;
and, generally, with respect to the regulation and orderly conduct of proceedings and business in and between the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Declaration of assets and liabilities; oath of members
36. Every member of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall, before taking his seat, declare his assets and liabilities as prescribed in this Constitution and subsequently take and subscribe the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of membership as prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to this Constitution before the President of the Senate or, as the case may be, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, but a member may before taking the oaths take part in the election of a Deputy President of the Senate, as the case may be, or a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Presiding in Congress
37. (1) At any joint sitting of the Senate and House of Representatives —
(a) the President of Senate shall preside, and in his absence the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall preside; and
(b) in the absence of the persons mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the Deputy President of the Senate shall preside, and in his absence the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives shall preside.
(2) In the absence of the persons mentioned in the foregoing provisions of this section, such member of the joint sitting, as the joint sitting may elect for that purpose shall preside.
