Senate passes 46 bills in 10 minutes

In what could be described as a national record in the history of lawmaking in Nigeria, the Senate today (Wednesday, June 3) passed 46 bills in less than 10 minutes.
The upper chamber also approved the request of President Muhammadu Buhari on the appointment of 15 Special Advisers.
Motion for the adoption of the 46 bills was moved by Ita Enang, chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, who called on the Red Chamber to invoke Order 1 (b) of the Senate Standing Order to adopt a Special Procedure on the bills.
Enang explained that the bills had earlier been passed by the House of Representatives and transmitted to the Senate for concurrence, adding that by “mutual consent and legislative reciprocity, the House of Representatives is adopting same special procedure and passing such bills passed by the Senate and transmitted to her for concurrence”.
He therefore called for the suspension of Order 79 (1) of the Senate Standing Orders and deemed all the bills as having passed First, Second and Third Readings.
This led to a rowdy session by senators who objected to the procedure being used in passing the bills. Before putting the motion to voice vote, Senate President, David Mark who presided over the session expressed reservation about the process, saying: “My main problem is that we should be able to read through the bills and know what they are saying”.