Senate Denies Delaying House Bills, Says Six Concurrence Bills Were Considered Last Week

The Senate has dismissed allegations by the House of Representatives accusing it of persistently delaying legislative concurrence on bills passed by the lower chamber.

The upper chamber insisted that it has always treated legislative initiatives from the House with seriousness and diligence.

The clarification came on Tuesday during plenary, following the House’s resolution to suspend further consideration of Senate-originated bills, citing prolonged delays in the red chamber’s concurrence on over 140 bills already passed by the House, many of which were sponsored by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele responded directly to the claims, describing them as inaccurate and misleading. They pointed out that at least six concurrence bills from the House were considered by the Senate only last week.

Akpabio reaffirmed the Senate’s commitment to harmonious legislative cooperation with the House of Representatives. He said:

“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.”

Senator Bamidele, who presented two House concurrence bills during the day’s proceedings, also set the record straight on the Senate’s position.

“I just want to put it on record—without responding directly to what was published in the newspapers—that we are doing our job. Only last week, the Senate concurred to six bills from the House of Representatives,” he said.

Bamidele stressed that the principle of reciprocity guides the relationship between the two chambers, but added that due diligence must always be applied in the interest of good governance.

“This does not mean garbage in, garbage out. We have a constitutional duty to scrutinise all bills—whether from the Senate or House—thoroughly and in the public interest.”

He reaffirmed the Senate’s readiness to continue giving attention to concurrence bills, as required by their legislative mandate under the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

“We will not shirk our responsibilities. The Senate remains committed to working collaboratively with the House of Representatives for the good of the Nigerian people,” Bamidele concluded.

The development comes amid renewed calls for better legislative coordination between both chambers of the National Assembly to enhance timely passage of laws that serve national interests.