The National Assembly has revealed plans to initiate a bill to ensure that Presidents-elect are sworn in the arcade of the National Assembly.

The leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, disclosed this on Tuesday while responding to questions on the June 12 anniversary in Abuja.

Mr Bamidele said the legislation was part of efforts to strengthen the country’s democracy. He said the parliament would also initiate another legislation for the president to deliver the ‘State of the Nation Address’ in the parliamentary on June 12 annually.

The federal lawmakers had invited President Bola Tinubu to address a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Thursday to mark 2025’s Democracy Day.

Mr Bamidele said, “It is our desire to institutionalise the ‘State of the Nation Address’. We will bring a bill to address it, to ensure that it is institutionalised. People should look forward to it. President Tinubu is working with the National Assembly in that regard. June 12 will be a better time for the president to address the nation through the national assembly.

“There is no better day than June 12 for the president to address the nation, because of its historical significance. It is a joint sitting of the national assembly. Nigerians should look forward to this legislative initiative.

“We are also hoping to change our political setting to the extent that the swearing-in of the next president will, by the grace of God, be in the arcade of the national assembly of Nigeria.”

Democracy Day is observed in Nigeria every June 12, in honour of the late MKO Abiola, the winner of the 1993 presidential election.

(NAN)