The Senate has dismissed recent claims by the House of Representatives suggesting that the upper chamber has consistently delayed concurrence on legislative measures passed by the lower chamber.
Addressing the matter during Tuesday’s plenary, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele stated unequivocally that the red chamber remains committed to timely consideration of all legislative initiatives from the House.
The response followed a resolution by the House of Representatives to suspend consideration of bills originating from the Senate, citing the Senate’s alleged failure to act on more than 140 House-passed bills, including several sponsored by the Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen. The lower chamber accused the Senate of intentionally stalling legislative progress.
In response, Senator Akpabio stressed the importance the Senate places on collaboration with the House, stating, “It takes two hands to clap. We have been attending to the bills from the House of Representatives. We are still going to attend to them. And we will continue to work together in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.”
He further emphasized that the Senate does not “joke” with concurrence bills and would continue to treat them with the seriousness they deserve.
Corroborating Akpabio’s stance, Senator Bamidele pointed out that the Senate considered six concurrence bills from the House just the previous week. Presenting one of the bills during plenary, he reaffirmed the Senate’s commitment to legislative cooperation.
“For the record, we have been doing what we are supposed to do. Only last week, the Senate concurred to six bills from the House of Representatives,” Bamidele said. “We know we have the principle of reciprocity that governs our operations. But this does not necessarily mean garbage in, garbage out.”
He added that the Senate exercises due diligence on all legislative matters in accordance with its constitutional mandate.
“We will continue to consider concurrence bills from the House of Representatives the same way they considered our own bills. We will ensure that it is given attention in overriding public interest,” Bamidele concluded.
The Senate reaffirmed its readiness to uphold inter-chamber cooperation and legislative integrity in the interest of national development, as outlined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
