President Bola Tinubu has informed the House of Representatives that he has declined assent to two bills passed by the National Assembly.
The decision was conveyed in separate letters read during Wednesday’s plenary by the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas.
The bills affected are the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
In his letter on the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (Amendment) Bill, Tinubu said that although many of the proposed amendments were commendable, some provisions sought to give the institute regulatory powers beyond its legal mandate.
According to the President, the bill contains clauses requiring organisations to report procurement appointments to the institute, imposing financial penalties on employers who appoint non-members to head procurement units, compelling organisations to notify the institute whenever procurement staff are removed, empowering the institute to take legal action against non-members, and authorising it to carry out inspection visits to companies.
He said these provisions amount to unreasonable restrictions and exceed the institute’s statutory powers.
Tinubu maintained that the institute is not the regulator of procurement practice in Nigeria and therefore cannot compel independent organisations to comply with such requirements.
He advised the National Assembly to address the identified issues and send the bill back for presidential assent.
The President also declined assent to the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (Amendment) Bill, 2026, saying it contains structural errors and drafting defects.
According to him, the bill does not properly reflect its key objectives in its long title and requires corrections before it can receive presidential approval.
Tinubu Sends Two Executive Bills to Reps
Meanwhile, President Tinubu has transmitted two executive bills to the House of Representatives for consideration.
The first is the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to strengthen the administration and governance of public senior secondary education across the country.
In his letter, the President said the bill was approved by the Federal Executive Council at its meeting of April 30, 2026, before it was reviewed and finalised by the Federal Ministry of Justice in line with constitutional and legislative drafting standards.
He said the proposed legislation is part of his administration’s efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s education sector and urged lawmakers to give it speedy consideration.
The President also forwarded the Administration of Criminal Justice Bill, 2026, which seeks to repeal the existing Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, and replace it with a new legal framework aimed at improving Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
According to Tinubu, the proposed law is designed to improve the management of criminal justice institutions, speed up the delivery of justice, protect society from crime and safeguard the rights of suspects, defendants and victims.
He explained that the bill would apply to the Federal Capital Territory and federal courts while strengthening the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Council.
The President said the proposed legislation addresses several challenges under the current law, including delays in criminal investigations and prosecutions, poor use of technology in criminal proceedings, weak coordination among justice institutions, ineffective case management systems and inadequate monitoring of compliance.
Among the major reforms in the bill are the removal of trial-within-trial proceedings for confessional statements through new admissibility procedures, the establishment of a national sex offenders register to be maintained by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the creation of a Witness Support Fund to ensure prompt payment of witness expenses, and the introduction of plea forms to simplify arraignment procedures.
Other proposed reforms include mandatory timelines for courts to rule on no-case submissions, wider use of written witness depositions to speed up trials, improved judicial case management, restructuring of the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Council with broader stakeholder representation, the appointment of an Executive Secretary for the council, powers for the Attorney-General to issue implementation regulations, and measures to prevent repeated trials caused by the death, retirement or transfer of judges.
Tinubu urged the House of Representatives to consider and pass the two executive bills without delay.
