Section 47. Establishment of National Assembly.
There shall be a National Assembly for the Federation which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
Section 48. Composition of the Senate
The Senate shall consist of three Senators from each State and one from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Section 49. Composition of the House of Representatives.
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the House of Representatives shall consist of three hundred and sixty members representing constituencies of nearly equal population as far as possible, provided that no constituency shall fall within more than one State.
Section 50. President of the senate and speaker of the House of Representatives.
(1) There shall be:-
(a) a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves; and
(b) a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.
(2) The President or Deputy President of the Senate or the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives shall vacate his office –
(a) if he ceases to be a member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of the Senate or the House of Representatives; or
(b) when the House of which he was a member first sits after any dissolution of that House; or
(c) if he is removed from office by a resolution of the Senate or of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of the members of that House.
Section 51. Staff of the National Assembly.
There shall be a Clerk to the National Assembly and such other staff as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly, and the method of appointment of the Clerk and other staff of the National Assembly shall be as prescribed by that tab
Section 52. Declaration of assets and liabilities ;oath of members.
(1) Every member of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall, before taking his seat, declare his assets and liabilities as prescribed in this Constitution and subsequently take and subscribe the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of membership as prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to this Constitution before the President of the Senate or, as the case may be, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, but a member may before taking the oaths take part in the election of a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, as the case may be, or a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(2) The President and Deputy President of the Senate and the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representative s shall declare their assets and liabilities as prescribed in this Constitution and subsequently take and subscribe the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of membership prescribed as aforesaid before the Clerk of the National Assembly.
Section 53. Presiding at sitting of the National Assembly and at joint sittings.
(1) At any sitting of the National Assembly –
(a) in the case of the Senate, the President of the Senate shall preside, and in his absence the Deputy President shall preside; and
(b) in the case of the House of Representatives, the Speaker of that House shall preside, and in his absence the Deputy Speaker shall preside.
(2) At any joint sitting of the Senate and House of Representatives –
(a) the President of Senate shall preside, and in his absence the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall preside; and
(b) in the absence of the persons mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the Deputy President of the Senate shall preside, and in his absence the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives shall preside.
(3) In the absence of the persons mentioned in the foregoing provisions of this section, such member of the Senate or the House of Representatives or of the joint sitting, as the case may be, as the Senate or the House of Representatives or the joint sitting may elect for that purpose shall preside.
Section 54. Quorum.
(1) The quorum of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall be one-third of all the members on of the Legislative House concerned.
(2) The quorum of a joint sitting of both the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall be one-third of all the members of both Houses.
(3) If objection is taken by any member of the Senate or the House of Representatives present that there are present in the House of which he is a member (besides the person presiding fewer than one-third of all the members of that House and that it is not competent for the House to transact business, and after such interval as may be prescribed in the rules of procedure of the House, the person presiding ascertains that the number of members present is still less than one-third of all the members of the House he shall adjourn the House.
(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall apply in relation to a joint sitting of both Houses of the National Assembly as they apply in relation to a House of the National Assembly as if references to the Senate or the House of Representatives and a member of either Houses are references to both Houses and to any member of the National Assembly, respectively.
Section 55. Languages.
The business of the National Assembly shall be conducted in English, and in Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba when adequate arrangements have been made therefor.
Section 56. Voting.
(1) Except as otherwise provided by this Constitution any question proposed for decision in the Senate or the House of Representatives shall be determined by the required majority or the members present and voting; and the person presiding shall cast a vote whenever necessary y to avoid an equality of votes but shall not vote in any other case.
(2) Except as otherwise provided by this Constitution, the required majority for the purpose of determining any question shall be a simple majority.
(3) The Senate or the House of Representatives shall by its rules provide –
(a) that a member of the House shall declare any direct pecuniary interest he may have in any matter coming before the House for deliberation;
(b) that the House may by resolution decide whether or not such member may vote, or participate in its deliberations, on such matter;
(c) the penalty, if any, which the House may impose for failure to declare any direct pecuniary interest such member may have; and`
(d) for such other matters pertaining to the foregoing as the House may think necessary, but nothing in the foregoing provisions shall enable any rules to be made to require any member, who signifies his intention not to vote on or participate in such matter, and who does not so vote or participate, to declare any such interest.
