For months, several important bills that could reform Nigeria's health, education, agriculture and electoral systems have been gathering dust in the House of Representatives.
These bills were sent to various committees for legislative review and recommendations, but nothing happened. No reports, no updates, no progress.
Despite reminders, committees failed last week to force House leadership to abdicate responsibility, a rebuke that exposed a dysfunctional lawmaking process.
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The neglected bills include amendments to the Electoral Act, National Primary Education Commission Act, Federal Medical Center Act as well as new establishment bills for health and agricultural research institutes.
Bills and Committees
As per official records, the Federal Medical Centers (Amendment) Bill was referred to the Committee on Health Institutions chaired by Amos Magaji. The amendment aims to strengthen governance in federal hospitals and allow them greater administrative flexibility.
The National Commission for Elementary Education (Amendment) Bill, which was expected to improve coordination and accountability in basic education, is pending before the Committee on Basic Education headed by Mark Useni.
Another major bill, the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, was referred to the Electoral Affairs Committee chaired by Adebayo Balogun. Another bill, the “Voting Rights of Nigerian Citizens Residing Outside Nigeria, Bill, 2023 (HB.22)” includes proposals for expatriate voting and other electoral reforms.
The Federal College of Nursing and Midwifery, Zaria (Establishment) Bill, assigned to the Committee on Tertiary Education and Services, is also stalled. This bill is to upgrade the status and funding of the college.
Similarly, two separate bills on the Nigerian Agricultural Research Council Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025 are expected to boost research, lack of which has stalled the country's agricultural sector.
The other bills are the Nigerian National Honors and Merit Awards Commission Bill, 2023 (HB.05), which has been referred to the Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs; National Assembly Infrastructure and Property Agency (Establishment) Bill, 2025 (HB.2072);
Federal Polytechnic (Amendment) Bill, 2025 (HB.2114); The Federal College of Nursing and Midwifery, Zaria (Establishment) Bill, 2025 (HB.2115); National Assembly Service Pension Board Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025 (HB.2240); and Petroleum Training Institute, Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State, 2023 (HB.362).
Each of these bills represents a policy area where reform is long overdue. The Education Amendment Bill can help address poor management and teacher shortage in public schools. The health bill could reform the way federal medical centers are run. The electoral bill could expand participation and make the process more credible. But with the committees failing to function, reforms are effectively stalled.
Despite repeated reminders from Vice President Benjamin Kalu, the committees ignored standing orders that require them to act within a stipulated period.
Under House rules, a committee has 30 days to consider a bill and present its report. If he fails to do so after 60 days, the House may withdraw the bill. This week, the House implemented that rule after finding that many committees had not done their work.
The deputy speaker, who chaired the plenary session last week, said the action was necessary to prevent the legislative process from stalling. A motion to retire non-performing committees was moved by Francis Vevey and passed without opposition.
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This is not the first time that committees have failed to report. Legislative observers say this has become a recurring problem in both houses of the National Assembly.
By taking the bills to a committee of the whole, the House hopes they can be passed faster. All members will now sit together to consider each section, which may speed up the process. Still, this raises questions about how effective the committee system actually is.
