President Bola Tinubu has withheld his assent to the Federal University of Education Numan (Establishment) Bill, 2024 recently passed by the National Assembly.
Tinubu’s decision is contained in a letter addressed to the speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen which was read at resumed plenary on Tuesday by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu who presided over the siting.
The president said he declined assent to the bill because it accords the authority to consent to the disposal of land to the governor and not the president as ought to be the case in respect of land belonging to a federal government entity (in the case of universities) while there were errors inherent in the proposed legislation.
“Pursuant to Section 58(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), I hereby convey to the House of Representatives, my decision on 23rd December 2024 to decline Presidential assent to the Federal University of Education Numan (Establishment) Bill, 2024 recently passed by the National Assembly.
“I am declining assent to the Bill due to the following; (a) Section 22 of the Bill accords the authority to consent to the disposal of land to the Governor and not the President as ought to be the case in respect of land belonging to a Federal Government entity (in the case of Universities).
“(b) The word “statutes” is spelled as “statues” in items 13 and 15 under arrangement of sections; (c) the preposition “of” is omitted between the word “award” and “degree” in section 25(4)(b), and (d) the phrase “one-third” is spelled as “on-third” in article 4(3) of the third schedule to the Bill,” the letter reads.
