LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

Ordinary Bills;
An Act of the National Assembly commences as a bill and may be introduced in
the senate or House of Representatives. A bill may either be a private bill
introduced by a private member of any of the legislative bodies and intended to
benefit the limited interest of a section of the society or it may be a public bill
affecting the interest of the public at large. The chairman of the appropriate
standing committee or an ordinary member of the House as a private member
may introduce a bill.

Money Bill;
Some special procedure is provided for, under S.59 CFRN 1999 (as amended)
where the bill in question is a money bill. Ordinarily, a money bill goes through
the same process as any ordinary bill.

The legislative process under the Military;

Sadly enough, military regimes, in fact, subdued the constitution. The military
assumed the power to amend or suspend all or any part of the constitution by
Decree. A case in point was the suspension and modification of 1979
constitution.

TYPES OF LEGISLATION:
The following types of legislation can be identified:
(i) Public General Act: which applies to everyone and everywhere within the
State. Examples of such legislation include the Criminal Code or the
Penal Code.
(ii) Local Act: which applies to a particular locality or community. For
example, a law made to combat environmental or ecological problems in
the Niger Delta area or a law establishing a particular University.
(iii) Private Act: This is even more restricted in its scope and application. A
Private Act is one made in respect of a particular person or body of
person including individual, local authorities and statutory bodies. For
example, a Statute granting a State pardon, to a convicted person or
reverting certain properties earlier confiscated back to him.
(iv) Consolidating Act: This is a new statute passed which re-enacts the
content of earlier Statute with such modifications and additions as are
necessary to produce a coherent whole.
(v) A Code: This is a Statute which attempts to put together in one document
the provisions of the existing legislation, the principles of common law
and doctrines of equity which have over a period of time on a particular
subject. Examples include the Criminal Code, Penal Code and The
Companies and Allied Matters Decree, No.1, 1990.

CONCLUSION
Where laws are enacted in the legislature such as the National Assembly or a
State House of Assembly, which are made up of the elected representatives of
the people, the law has to be passed according to the prescribed legislative
procedure. It is therefore essential to conclude that on the legislative process
that much time and resources, human and material, are expended in the course
of enacting a Statute. The legislature would have considered all apparent
loopholes and sought to resolve any uncertainty in order to ensure that the law,
when finally passed, is clear and certain and that it is, as much as possible,
devoid of all ambiguities.