Tinubu Declines Assent to Two National Assembly Bills, Cites Constitutional Grounds

President Bola Tinubu declined to grant presidential assent to two bills passed by the National Assembly, returning them to the legislature with constitutional objections and requesting that lawmakers address the specific concerns he had identified before resubmitting the bills for executive approval, Tribune Online reported on Wednesday.

The Presidency did not initially disclose the full identities of both bills in its formal communication, though sources in the National Assembly said the President’s constitutional objections related to provisions he believed encroached on executive functions or conflicted with existing constitutional frameworks. The President has the power under the 1999 Constitution to withhold assent within 30 days and return a bill with observations to the legislature.

Legislature Must Reconsider or Override

The National Assembly now faces a choice between amending the bills to address Tinubu’s specific constitutional concerns and resubmitting them for assent, or attempting a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers to override the presidential veto. An override is constitutionally permissible but politically difficult given the APC’s dominance in the legislature, making a negotiated amendment the more likely path.

The declined assent comes in the same week that Tinubu signed the landmark state police constitutional amendment bill into law and nominated Lamido Yuguda Abubakar as the new chairman of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, for Senate confirmation. The President sought Senate confirmation of Yuguda to stabilise AMCON’s leadership and continue its work of resolving the significant non-performing loan balances acquired from Nigerian banks.

AMCON Nomination Signals Financial Sector Focus

Yuguda’s AMCON nomination was described by financial analysts as a signal of the President’s continued focus on resolving legacy financial sector stress, with AMCON still carrying a substantial portfolio of distressed assets acquired from banks during previous economic downturns. Furthermore, the Senate digital healthcare bill passed for second reading this week, signalling legislative momentum on health technology that dovetailed with NHIA and telemedicine expansion efforts under the health ministry. Consequently, the legislative week was defined by both new bill passages and executive pushback, illustrating the ongoing negotiation between Tinubu’s executive priorities and the National Assembly’s legislative agenda.