Katsina assembly passes 273 bills in 23 years

Katsina State House of Assembly said it had passed 273 bills from 1999 to date, ranging from the first to the present seventh assembly.

The Deputy Speaker, Alhaji Shehu Dalhatu-Tafoki, disclosed this at a 2-day round table meeting on Saturday in Kano.

The meeting was organised by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), High Level Women Advocates (HILWA), in collaboration with the Katsina State and Federal governments, and funded by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

According to Dalhatu-Tafoki, from 2015 to date, the assembly had  passed 130 bills out of the 273 and they were passed by the sixth and the seventh assemblies.

“And the bills were majorly on education, health and  justice. There were so many bills we have passed under education.

“So, the bill on providing 35 per cent positions for women participation on decision making in education system will not be exceptional.

“By God’s grace,  we are going to do our best to see how we can pass it. There are so many bills that were domesticated by the assembly.

“The Child Rights Act had been in the assembly for the past 16 years, it is this seventh assembly that has the political will to pass that bill into law.

“But, definitely, it will suit our religion and culture. We have done some amendments on the bill, but we have passed it in 2020,” he said.

Dalhatu-Tafoki said that the bill was already signed into law by Gov. Aminu Masari.

He said: ”What is now left is the implementation by the executive arm of the government.

“I also want to inform you that there are only three ways that you can present a bill before the assembly, either by the executive, judiciary or any of the 34 lawmakers.”

“I want you to feel comfortable, what I am saying now is very simple, maybe within a month we can even pass it into law.

“The present Chairman of the committee on education should sponsor the bill and I assure you, God’s willing, by next week you will hear the first reading.”

Earlier, the HILWA Secretary, Hajiya Wasila Sani-Saulawa said there was a commitment by the lawmakers to sponsor the bill, as it was done for the other one.

She added that HILWA has been routinely visiting the lawmakers, saying, “and we were assured that it has gone through first and second reading.”