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CHAPTER I

PART I
THE LEGISLATURE

Legislative power

1. The legislative power of the Federation shall be vested in the Legislature which shall consist of the President and the Congress.

The Congress

2. The Congress of _____ shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

PART II
THE SENATE

Constitution of Senate

3. (1) The Senate shall be composed of six Senators for each State, elected by the sitting members of the Legislative Assembly for that State.

(2) The election of Senators shall take place according to the principle of proportional representation, each voter having one transferable vote.

(3) The Senate shall be a permanent body and the term of office of a senator shall not be affected, and the seat of a senator shall not become vacant by reason of a dissolution of Congress.

(4) One-third of the senators shall retire every second year.

(5) Subject to the provisions of section _____, the term of office of a senator shall be six years from the date of his election:

Provided that ―

(a) a person who is elected a senator to fill a casual vacancy shall be deemed to be elected to serve only for the remainder of his predecessor's term of office;

(b) a person who is elected to fill a vacancy caused by the termination of a senator's period of office by effluxion of time shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to have been elected on such termination.

(6) A separate election shall be held for the filling of each casual vacancy among the elected senators.

(7) In this section, the expression "casual vacancy" means a vacancy occurring otherwise than by the termination of a senator's period of office by effluxion of time.

Failure to choose senators

4. The Senate may proceed to the dispatch of business, notwithstanding the failure of any State to provide for its representation in the Senate.

Rotation of senators

5. For the purpose of securing that one-third of the senators shall retire every second year, at the first meeting of the Senate under this Constitution, the Senate shall by lot divide the senators into three classes; and the term of office of the senators of the first class shall terminate at the expiry of a period of two years, the term of office of the senators of the second class shall terminate at the expiry of a period of four years, and the term of office of the senators of the third class shall terminate at the expiry of a period of six years, from the date of election.

President and Deputy President of the Senate

6. (1) The Vice-President of _____ shall be ex-officio President of the Senate:

Provided that during any period when the Vice-President acts as President or discharges the functions of the President under section _____, he shall not perform the duties of the office of President of the Senate and shall not be entitled to any salary or allowance payable to the President of the Senate under section _____.

(2) The Senate shall, before proceeding to the dispatch of any other business, elect a senator, not being a Minister or a Deputy Minister, to be the Deputy President of the Senate, and, whenever the office of the Deputy President of the Senate becomes vacant the Senate shall not transact any other business until a person to fill that office has been elected.

(3) The Deputy President of the Senate shall be elected in accordance with the Standing Orders.

(4) The Deputy President may at any time resign his office by notice in writing to the Secretary to Congress and shall vacate his office ―

(a) upon his death; or

(b) if he ceases to be a senator; or

(c) if he is required by virtue of the provisions of section _____ or _____ to cease to exercise any of his functions as a senator; or

(d) if he becomes a Minister or a Deputy Minister.

Vacancy

7. (1) The seat of a senator shall become vacant ―

(a) upon his death; or

(b) if, by writing under his hand, addressed to the Secretary to Congress, he resigns his seat; or

(c) if he is required by virtue of the provisions of section _____ or _____ to cease to exercise any of his functions as a senator; or

(d) if, without the leave of the Senate first obtained, he absents himself from the sittings of the Senate during a continuous period of three months; or

(e) upon the termination of his term of office.

(2) As often as there is a vacancy among the members elected to the Senate by a State the Secretary to Congress shall give notice to the Governor of the State in the representation of which the vacancy has happened that an election of a senator is required and the Governor shall require the Legislative Assembly to elect a senator as soon as may be.

Quorum

8. The presence of at least one-third of the whole number of the senators shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the Senate for the exercise of its powers.

Voting in Senate

9. (1) Questions arising in the Senate shall be determined by a majority of votes, and each senator shall have one vote.

(2) All questions in the Senate shall be determined by a majority of votes of senators present other than the President of the Senate or the presiding senator, who shall, however, have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.

PART III: THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

10. The House of Representatives shall be composed of one hundred and fifty members, each of whom shall be directly elected by the persons entitled to vote at an election of such a member in an electoral division delimited as provided in section _____.

Elections

11. At any general election of members of the House of Representatives under this Constitution, all polls shall be taken on one and the same day in all the electoral divisions throughout _____, such day to be appointed by the President.

Delimitation of electoral divisions

12. (1) At intervals of not less than five years and not more than ten years, the President shall appoint a delimitation commission consisting of three judges of the Supreme Court of _____, which shall divide each State into so many electoral divisions that their number bears, as nearly as possible, the same ratio to one hundred and fifty as, in terms of the current voters’ lists, duly corrected up to the latest possible date, the number of voters in that State bears to the total number of voters in _____.

(2) In dividing a State into electoral divisions in terms of subsection (1) the said commission shall act in accordance with the provisions of section thirteen.

Method of dividing States into electoral divisions

13. (1) For the purposes of any division of the States into electoral divisions, the quota of each State shall be obtained by dividing the total number of voters in the State as ascertained from an examination of the current voters’ lists by the number of members of the House of Representatives to be elected therein.

(2) Each State shall be divided into electoral divisions in such a manner that each such division shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (3), contain a number of voters as nearly as may be equal to the quota of the State.

(3) The delimitation commission shall give due consideration to ―

(a) community or diversity of interests;

(b) means of communication;

(c) physical features;

(d) boundaries of existing electoral divisions;

(e) sparsity or density of population,

in such manner that, while taking the quota of voters as the basis of division, the commission may depart therefrom whenever it is deemed necessary, but in no case to any greater extent than fifteen per cent more or fifteen per cent less than the quota.

Powers and duties of commission for delimiting electoral divisions

14. (1) A commission constituted under the provisions of section twelve shall submit to the President ―

(a) a list of electoral divisions, with the names given to them by the commission and a description of the boundaries of every such division;

(b) a map or maps showing the electoral divisions into which the States have been divided;

(c) such further particulars as it considers necessary.

(2) The President may refer to the commission for its consideration all matters relating to such list or arising out of the powers or duties of the commission.

(3) The President shall by proclamation in the Gazette make known the names and boundaries of the electoral divisions as finally settled and certified by the commission, or a majority thereof, and thereafter, until there shall be a re-division, the electoral divisions as named and defined shall be the electoral divisions of _____ in the States.

(4) If any discrepancy arises between the description of the divisions and the aforesaid map or maps, the description shall prevail.

Date from which alteration of electoral divisions takes effect

15. Any alteration in the number of members of the House of Representatives to be elected in the several States, and any re-division of the provinces into electoral divisions, shall, in respect of the election of members of the House of Representatives, come into operation at the next general election held after the completion of the re-division or of any allocation consequent upon such alteration, and not earlier.

Qualifications of members

16. No person shall be qualified to be a member of the House of Representatives under this Constitution unless —

(a) he is a citizen of _____;

(b) he has attained the age of 21 years;

(c) he is qualified for registration as a voter for the purposes of the election of members of the House of Representatives and is so registered;

(d) he possesses the qualifications specified in section _____;

(e) he is not subject to any of the disqualifications specified in section _____; and

(f) he has been domiciled in _____ for a period of at least five years.

Duration of House of Representatives

17. Every House of Representatives shall continue for five years from the first meeting thereof, and no longer, but may be sooner dissolved by the President.

Election of Speaker

18. (1) The House of Representatives shall, before proceeding to the dispatch of any other business, elect a member of the House of Representatives, not being a Minister or a Deputy Minister, to be Speaker of the House of Representatives, and, whenever the office of the Speaker becomes vacant the House of Representatives shall not transact any other business until a person to fill that office has been elected.

(2) The Speaker shall be elected in accordance with the Standing Orders.

Tenure of office of Speaker

19. (1) The Speaker of the House of Representatives may at any time resign his office either by announcing his resignation in person to the House of Representatives or by notice in writing to the Secretary to Congress.

(2) The Speaker shall vacate his office ―

(a) upon his death; or

(b) on the dissolution of Parliament next following his election; or

(c) if he becomes a Minister or a Deputy Minister; or

(d) if he is elected as a senator;

(e) if he ceases to be a member of the House of Representatives; or

(f) if he is required by virtue of the provisions of section _____ or _____ to cease to exercise any of his functions as a member of the House of Representatives.

(3) The office of the Speaker shall become vacant if the House of Representatives, by an affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the House of Representatives, resolves that the office of the Speaker shall become vacant.

Deputy Speaker

20. (1) As soon as practicable after the election of the Speaker in terms of section _____, the House of Representatives shall elect a member of the House of Representatives, not being a Minister or a Deputy Minister, to be the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and to be chairman when the House of Representatives is in Committee and, whenever the office of the Deputy Speaker becomes vacant otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of Parliament, the House of Representatives shall as soon as convenient elect another such member to that office.

(2) The Deputy Speaker shall be elected in accordance with the Standing Orders.

(3) The Deputy Speaker may at any time resign his office by notice in writing to the Clerk to the House of Representatives and shall vacate his office ―

(a) upon his death; or

(b) if he ceases to be a member of the House of Representatives; or

(c) if he is required by virtue of the provisions of section _____ or _____ to cease to exercise any of his functions as a member of the House of Representatives; or

(d) if he becomes a Minister or a Deputy Minister.

Vacancy

21. (1) The seat of a member of the House of Representatives shall become vacant ―

(a) upon his death; or

(b) if, by writing under his hand, addressed to the Secretary to Congress, he resigns his seat; or

(c) on the dissolution of Congress next following his election; or

(d) if he becomes a Minister or a Deputy Minister; or

(d) if he is elected as a senator;

(e) if he is required by virtue of the provisions of section _____ or _____ to cease to exercise any of his functions as a member of the House of Representatives; or

(f) if, without the leave of the House of Representatives first obtained, he absents himself from the sittings of the House of Representatives during a continuous period of three months; or

(g) upon the termination of his term of office.

(2) Whenever a vacancy happens in the House of Representatives, the Speaker shall issue his writ for the election of a new member.

Quorum

22. The presence of at least one-third of the whole number of the members of the House of Representatives shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the House of Representatives for the exercise of its powers.

Voting in House of Representatives

23. All questions in the House of Representatives shall be determined by a majority of votes of members present other than the Speaker or the presiding member, who shall, however, have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.