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Question

Difficulty: MediumSecond Republic and the 1979 Presidential Constitution

Under the 1979 Constitution of Nigeria, how could a legislative bill passed by the National Assembly become law if the Executive President withheld assent?

  1. By being re-passed by a two-thirds majority of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.Answer
  2. B
    By receiving approval from a simple majority of the State Houses of Assembly.
  3. C
    By obtaining a unanimous vote of confirmation in the Senate alone.
  4. D
    By being referred to the Supreme Court for automatic judicial assent.

Answer

By being re-passed by a two-thirds majority of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Under Section 54 of the 1979 Constitution of Nigeria, if the Executive President refuses to assent to a bill passed by the National Assembly within thirty days, the bill can still become law without presidential signature if it is re-passed by a two-thirds majority of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the legislative process under the 1979 Executive Presidential Constitution.
Recognize that the executive president holds veto power over bills passed by the National Assembly.
The 1979 Constitution introduced presidential checks on legislative law-making.
2
Determine the constitutional mechanism for overriding an executive veto.
The National Assembly can override the veto if two-thirds of the members in both the Senate and the House of Representatives vote to re-pass the bill.
This maintains the system of checks and balances, ensuring the executive cannot permanently block the legislature's enactments.

Key Concept

Executive Veto and Legislative Override in the 1979 Constitution
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Topics

Second Republic and the 1979 Presidential Constitution