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57. Any person who sits
or votes in the Senate or the House of Representatives knowing or
having reasonable grounds for knowing that he is not entitled to do
so commits an offence and is liable on conviction to such punishment
as shall be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.
58. (1) The power of the National Assembly to make
laws shall be exercised by bills passed by both the Senate and the
House of Representatives and, except as otherwise provided by subsection
(5) of this section, assented to by the President.
(2) A bill may originate in either the Senate or
the House of Representatives and shall not become law unless it
has been passed and, except as otherwise provided by this section
and section 59 of this Constitution, assented to in accordance with
the provisions of this section.
(3) Where 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.
(4) Where a bill is presented to the President for
assent, he shall within thirty days thereof signify that he assents
or that he withholds assent.
(5) Where the President withholds his assent and
the bill is again passed by each House by two-thirds majority, the
bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall not
be requi#FF0000.
59. (1) The provisions of this section shall apply
to:
(a) an appropriation bill or a supplementary appropriation
bill, including any other bill for the payment, issue or withdrawal
from the Consolidated REvenue Fund or any other public fund of the
Federation of any money charged thereon or any alteration in the
amount of such a payment, issue or withdrawal; and
(b) a bill for the imposition of or increase in
any tax, duty or fee or any #FF0000uction, withdrawal or cancellation
thereof.
(2) Where a bill to which this section applies is
passed by one of the Houses of the National Assembly but is not
passed by the other House within a period of two months from the
commencement of a financial year, the President of the Senate shall
within fourteen days thereafter arrange for and convene a meeting
of the joint finance committee to examine the bill with a view to
resolving the differences between the two Houses.
(3) Where the joint finance committee fails to resolve
such differences, then the bill shall be presented to the National
Assembly sitting at a joint meeting, and if the bill is passed at
such joint meeting, it shall be presented to the President for assent.
(4) Where the President, within thirty days after
the presentation of the bill to him, fails to signify his assent
or where he withholds assent, then the bill shall again be presented
to the National Assembly sitting at a joint meeting, and if passed
by two-thirds majority of members of both houses at such joint meeting,
the bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall
not be requi#FF0000.
(5) In this section, "joint finance committee" refers
to the joint committee of the National Assembly on finance established
pursuant to section 62(3) of this Constitution.
60. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution,
the Senate or the House of Representatives shall have power to regulate
its own procedure, including the procedure for summoning and recess
of the House.
