Meaning of section 8 (2) of 1999 constitution

What is the Meaning of section 8 subsection two of Nigeria 1999 constitution. In this article I will like to explain the Meaning of section 8 (2) of 1999 constitution

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Meaning of section 8 (2) of 1999 constitution

The section 8 subsection 2 of Nigeria 1999 constitution stated that

An Act of the National Assembly for the purpose of boundary adjustment of any existing State shall only be passed if-

(a) a request for the boundary adjustment, supported by two-thirds majority of members (representing the area demanding and the area affected by the boundary adjustment) in each of the following, namely-

(i) the Senate and the House of Representatives,

(ii) the House of Assembly in respect of the area, and

(iii) the local government councils in respect of the area,is received by the National Assembly;

explanation of this section;

Boundary Adjustment Law

To change the boundaries of an existing State, the National Assembly must pass a law However, this law can only be passed if:

Three Conditions are Met

1 Senate and House of Representatives: A request for boundary adjustment must be supported by at least 2/3 of the members in:

Senate and House of Representatives

Specifically, members representing both the area that wants the change (demanding area) and the area that will be affected by the change (affected area)

2 House of Assembly: The request must also be supported by at least 2/3 of the members in the House of Assembly of the State where the boundary adjustment is proposed

3 Local Government Councils: Additionally, the request must be supported by at least 2/3 of the members in the local government councils of the affected area

In Simple Terms: To change a State’s boundaries, a request must be made and supported by:

A strong majority (2/3) of national lawmakers (Senate and House of Representatives) from both the demanding and affected areas

A strong majority (2/3) of state lawmakers (House of Assembly) from the affected State

A strong majority (2/3) of local government council members from the affected area

This ensures broad support from all levels of government before making changes to a State’s boundaries

The key points of this section are

1 The process is initiated by a request for a boundary adjustment, supported by a two-thirds majority of members in:

a Both the Senate and the House of Representatives (the two chambers of the National Assembly)

b The state House of Assembly for the area(s) affected by the boundary change

c The local government councils in the area(s) affected

2 So there needs to be a very strong, supermajority-level support for the boundary adjustment at the national, state, and local levels

The intent behind these requirements seems to be:

To ensure that a boundary change has wide-ranging support and isn’t pushed through without broad consensus

To give a voice to both the area requesting the change and the area that would be affected by it

To make the process rigorous and participatory, rather than allowing boundary changes to be made unilaterally

To prevent gerrymandering or other politically-motivated boundary adjustments that don’t have genuine support

In summary, this provision sets a high bar for approving state boundary changes, requiring supermajority support at multiple levels of government representing the affected populations The goal is to make the process as inclusive, consensual, and difficult to abuse as possible

To change the borders of a state in Nigeria, there’s a strict process that must be followed:

Strong support from the people: People living in the area that wants to be changed, and those in the area affected by the change, must strongly support the idea This support needs to be shown by:

A majority of lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives agreeing

A majority of lawmakers in the state’s House of Assembly agreeing

A majority of local government council members in the area agreeing

National Assembly approval: Only after all these steps, can the national parliament (Senate and House of Representatives) pass a law to change the state’s boundaries This law needs the support of two-thirds of the lawmakers in both houses

Essentially: Changing state borders is a serious matter that requires widespread agreement from both the people directly affected and the national government This process is designed to prevent hasty or unpopular changes to state boundaries

Section 8 SubSection 2b

a proposal for the boundary adjustment is approved by –

(i) a simple majority of members of each House of the National Assembly, and

(ii) a simple majority of members of the House of Assembly in respect of the area concerned

Explanation of this section

Boundary Adjustment Proposal

A proposal to change the boundaries of an existing State is approved if:

Two Conditions are Met

1 National Assembly: A simple majority (more than half) of members in:

House of Representatives and Senate

must vote in favor of the proposal

2 House of Assembly: A simple majority (more than half) of members in the House of Assembly of the State where the boundary adjustment is proposed must also vote in favor of the proposal

In Simple Terms: To approve a boundary adjustment proposal, you need:

More than half of the national lawmakers (House of Representatives and Senate) to say “yes”

More than half of the state lawmakers (House of Assembly) from the affected State to say “yes”

This means that a boundary adjustment can be made with a simple majority vote from both the national and state levels of government, without requiring a supermajority (like 2/3) as in the previous law

After the initial requirements are met, where:

1 There is a request for a boundary adjustment supported by two-thirds majorities in the national legislature, state legislature, and local government councils representing the affected areas

The next step is that the proposal for the boundary adjustment must be approved by:

i A simple majority (over 50%) of the members in each House of the National Assembly (the Senate and the House of Representatives)

ii A simple majority (over 50%) of the members in the state House of Assembly for the area(s) concerned by the boundary change

So even though the initial request needed supermajority support, the final approval only requires a simple majority at the national and state legislative levels

The intent behind this seems to be:

To create a slightly less stringent requirement for the final approval, compared to the initial proposal stage

To still require broad support at the national and state levels, but not an absolute supermajority

To balance the need for strong consensus with the practical reality that a simple majority may be sufficient for the final approval

To ensure that the boundary adjustment has backing from the national legislature as well as the state legislature(s) directly affected

Overall, this provision aims to make the boundary adjustment process rigorous and participatory, while not making the final approval stage overly difficult to achieve if the initial proposal has garnered substantial support

For a proposal to change the boundaries of a state to be approved, it needs to be supported by:

A majority of lawmakers in both the Senate and House of Representatives (the national parliament)

A majority of lawmakers in the state assembly where the boundary change will happen

Breaking it down of this section:

Simple majority: This means that more than half of the lawmakers in each house must vote in favor of the proposal for it to pass

National Assembly: This refers to the Senate and House of Representatives, which together form the national parliament

House of Assembly: This is the state’s own parliament

Essentially:

To change state borders, you need the approval of both the national and state governments This process ensures that decisions about state boundaries have support from both levels of government