President Bola Tinubu has declined to sign two bills recently passed by the National Assembly into law, citing constitutional issues and drafting flaws that must be addressed before they can receive presidential approval.
The decision was conveyed to the Senate on Thursday through separate letters read during plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The affected legislation includes the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (Amendment) Bill, 2026 and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria Bill.
In both communications, Tinubu said he was acting under the provisions of Section 58(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which allows the President to withhold assent to bills and return them to the National Assembly with observations for further consideration.
Explaining his decision on the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (Amendment) Bill, the President said the proposed legislation contained drafting and structural deficiencies that made it unsuitable for assent in its current form.
He noted that the long title of the bill did not accurately reflect its primary objective of promoting the development, protection and processing of Nigeria’s raw materials.
According to him, the title should clearly indicate that the amendment is intended to support the development and protection of the country’s raw materials while encouraging local manufacturing and processing.
Tinubu also pointed to inconsistencies in Section 2 of the bill, saying it incorrectly presented the council’s operational functions as legislative objectives.
He explained that legislative objectives are meant to outline policy intentions, not define the day-to-day responsibilities of a government agency.
The President further observed that provisions relating to value addition were inserted between sections dealing with the council’s finances and annual accounts, creating confusion in the structure of the proposed law.
“These erroneous insertions make the Bill incoherent and difficult to comprehend within the context of the Principal Act. Accordingly, the Bill as currently proposed is disjointed,” he stated.
Tinubu also declined assent to the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria Bill, saying some of its provisions attempted to grant the institute regulatory powers that exceeded its legal mandate.
While acknowledging that several aspects of the proposed amendments were commendable, he maintained that certain clauses required further legislative review before the bill could become law.
The President specifically objected to proposed changes to Clause 8, which sought to introduce new sub-clauses (10) to (15) into Section 11 of the principal Act.
He said one of the proposed provisions would compel incorporated companies and organisations to notify the institute within one month of appointing a procurement or supply chain head.
According to Tinubu, such a requirement cannot be enforced because the institute does not serve as the statutory regulator of those entities.
“The Institute, not being the regulator, cannot force incorporated entities or organisations that are independent and perhaps not registered members of the Institute to furnish such particulars,” the President stated.
He also faulted provisions empowering the institute to inspect organisations, sanction employers and enforce compliance on companies established under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, arguing that the proposed powers go beyond the institute’s statutory authority.
Despite rejecting the bill in its present form, Tinubu said the legislation could still receive presidential assent once the identified issues are corrected.
“Subject to the correction of the above issues, the Bill may be suitable for retransmission for assent,” he said.
Following the reading of the President’s letters, Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred both communications to the Senate Committee on Rules and Business for further legislative action. The committee was directed to submit its report to the Senate within four weeks.
Section 58(4) of the 1999 Constitution empowers the President to withhold assent to bills passed by the National Assembly and return them with observations. The legislature may subsequently amend the bills in line with those observations or exercise its constitutional powers to override the presidential veto where applicable.