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opinion of the United States Government. The information provided 

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It has not been updated.
National Parliaments: Nigeria

Hanibal Goitom 

Foreign Law Specialist





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National Parliaments: Nigeria

5. Joint Conference Committee

If the House of Representatives and the Senate adopt different versions of a bill, a Joint 

Conference Committee is constituted to reconcile the differences. Members of the Committee 

deliberate only on the parts of the bill where there is disagreement; no new item may be 

introduced at this stage.126 If either chamber of the National Assembly refuses to accept the 

decision of the Committee, the bill dies unless it is a money bill, as described above, in which 

case it is referred to a joint sitting of the National Assembly for a vote and enacted if it garners 

majority support.127

6. Assent

The Nigerian President plays a crucial role in the lawmaking process through the constitutionally 

guaranteed veto power, which may be exercised over any legislation adopted by the National 

Assembly. The Constitution states,

[w]here a bill has been passed by the House in which it originated, it shall be sent to the 

other House, and it shall be presented to the President for assent when it has been passed 

by that other House and agreement has been reached between the two Houses on any 

amendment made on it.128

If the President refuses to sign the bill into law within thirty-days of its referral to his desk, the 

bill dies unless the National Assembly overrides the presidential veto by passing the bill again 

with the support of at least a two-thirds majority in each chamber.129

126 The Legislative Process, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, supra note 106.

127 Id.; CONSTITUTION OF NIGERIA § 59.

128 CONSTITUTION OF NIGERIA § 58. 

129 Id.

The Law Library of Congress 15