Key bills introduced in the 10th National Assembly — tracking passage, abandonment, and the gap between legislative promises and outcomes.
6
Bills tracked
2
Passed
2
Pending
2
Abandoned
Governance
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Act
Passed
What it proposes
Merged the National Maritime Authority and the Joint Maritime Labour Industrial Council into a single agency, NIMASA, responsible for maritime safety regulation, cabotage enforcement, and administration of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund intended to support indigenous shipowners.
Outcome
Signed early in the term, establishing the regulatory framework still in use today. The agency's Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund later became the subject of its own mismanagement allegations under the succeeding administration.
Technology
National Space Research and Development Agency Act
Passed
What it proposes
Formalised the legal status and funding framework of NASRDA, Nigeria's space agency, established administratively in 1999, providing statutory backing for the country's satellite programme, including the NigeriaSat series of earth observation satellites.
Outcome
Signed in the final months of the term, the Act gave the agency a firmer legal foundation for subsequent satellite launches and space research funding in the following decade.
Energy
Nigerian Content Development Act
In progress
What it proposes
Proposed to mandate minimum levels of Nigerian ownership, employment, and sourcing in oil and gas industry contracts, aiming to build domestic capacity in a sector historically dominated by foreign firms and expertise.
Outcome
The bill was still being finalised in the National Assembly when Yar'Adua died in May 2010. It was passed and signed into law by his successor within weeks, in April 2010, becoming one of the more consequential pieces of legislation whose groundwork was laid during this term but completed under the next administration.
Governance
Electoral Act Amendment (Uwais Committee reforms)
In progress
What it proposes
A package of electoral law amendments based on a subset of the Uwais Electoral Reform Committee's December 2008 recommendations, intended to improve INEC's independence, voter registration accuracy, and result collation procedures ahead of the 2011 general election.
Outcome
Debate on the amendments was still ongoing when Yar'Adua died. The bill was signed into law by Acting President Jonathan in August 2010, in time to underpin the 2011 general election, but the reform itself was substantially completed after the end of Yar'Adua's own tenure.
Governance
Constitution Amendment — INEC chairman appointment reform
Abandoned
What it proposes
The Uwais Committee's most far-reaching recommendation proposed removing the president's power to unilaterally appoint the INEC chairman and commissioners, instead vesting the process in an independent panel, to insulate the electoral body from executive influence.
Outcome
The proposal faced resistance in the National Assembly and from within the executive itself, and was dropped from the final electoral reform package. INEC's chairman continued to be appointed directly by the president for years afterward, a structural gap in electoral independence that outlived this term entirely.
Governance
Federal Capital Territory Bill (planning and administration reforms)
Abandoned
What it proposes
Proposed updates to the legal framework governing the administration and urban planning of the Federal Capital Territory, including clearer rules on land allocation and satellite town development around Abuja.
Outcome
The bill did not progress past committee stage before the end of the term, and Abuja's land allocation and urban planning disputes — a recurring source of controversy — remained governed by the older, largely unreformed framework.