The Senate has stepped down the Criminal Code Amendment bill 2024 to provide stiffer penalties to selected sections of the act, a concurrent bill previously passed by the House of Representatives.
The development, however, was not without minor drama on the floor of the chamber as tensions briefly flared over a procedural agreement.
The bill which had been slated for concurrence, was led in debate by Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, but was ultimately stepped down for further deliberations.
However, shortly after the bill had been withdrawn, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, raised her hand in an attempt to reopen discussion on a sensitive aspect of the bill. As she began to raise concerns over a clause related to abortion, there was a swift interjection by Adams Oshiomhole who raised a point of order.
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Oshiomhole argued that the matter had already been concluded and ruled upon, making further discussion procedurally improper.
He reminded that if a matter has been stepped down and ruled upon, it is out of order to reopen it. “I think my distinguished sister should agree that these are the rules and she should recognise that these are the rules,” he said.
Responding, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, acknowledged the point, noting that “I’m not a spirit to know what she wanted to say,” reiterating that parliamentary procedure does not allow for issues to be revisited after a ruling. He subsequently ruled Senator Natasha out of order.
The bill, which contains eight sections proposed for amendment, had earlier generated intense debate among lawmakers, particularly over a provision on ‘conspiracy to defile,’ a clause which the lawmakers had resolved to prescribe life imprisonment for the defilement of minors, regardless of the victim’s gender.
The bill was unanimously stepped down and referred to the senate committee on Judiciary and human rights to report back in two weeks.
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