Senate Reaffirms Commitment to House Collaboration on Concurrence Bills …says six House bills received attention last week

By Iyojo Ameh

The Senate has firmly dismissed allegations of delaying concurrence on legislative proposals from the House of Representatives, stressing its unwavering commitment to legislative cooperation.

During plenary on Tuesday, the Senate revealed that it had considered six concurrence bills from the green chamber just last week, pushing back against accusations of neglecting its counterpart’s initiatives.

Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, addressed the issue on the floor of the red chamber at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.

Their remarks were in response to a resolution by the House of Representatives to suspend consideration of Senate-originated bills, citing the Senate’s alleged refusal to act on over 140 House-passed bills, including those sponsored by Speaker Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen.

Refuting the claims, Akpabio stated unequivocally that the Senate values its relationship with the House and remains committed to processing concurrence bills. “It takes two hands to clap. We have been attending to the bills from the House of Representatives and will continue to do so in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians,” he said.

Also speaking during the presentation of one of the concurrence bills, Senator Bamidele clarified that the Senate had not been idle. “Only last week, we concurred with six bills from the House,” he said. “We operate on a principle of reciprocity, but that doesn’t mean rubber-stamping. Our responsibility as lawmakers is to apply due diligence.”

He further emphasized that the Senate would continue to give proper attention to bills from the House, in line with constitutional responsibilities and the greater public good.