The Senate has pushed back against claims that it routinely ignores bills passed by the house of representatives.
Speaking at Tuesday’s plenary, Opeyemi Bamidele, senate
leader, said the red chamber remains committed to legislative reciprocity
grounded in the public interest.
He described the narrative as misleading and said the senate
had processed several bills from the House in recent weeks.
“I want to use this opportunity to respond to what was published in some newspapers about the senate not working on concurrent bills from the house of representatives,” Bamidele said.
“Let me say, for the record, that we have been doing what we
are supposed to do and that only last week, this senate concurred to six bills
from the house of representatives.”
Bamidele added that while both chambers uphold the principle
of reciprocity, the senate would not automatically approve any bill that fails
to serve the national interest.
“Yes, while we have the principle of chamber reciprocity, Mr
president, the principle does not necessarily mean for us garbage in, garbage
out,” he said.
“We will continue to consider concurrent bills sent from the
house of representatives, the same way they also consider our own. We want to
ensure that every bill is given attention in the overriding public interest.”
Senate President Godswill Akpabio backed Bamidele’s position
and cited recent examples to reinforce the upper chamber’s commitment to
legislative diligence and cooperation.
“Last week, we attended to about six of those bills, and
this week, I don’t know how many. But at least I know we are going to do two
today,” he said.
“So please, let our brothers in the house of representatives
know that we cannot joke with anything that comes from there. It takes two
hands to clap, and we continue to work together.”
The intervention followed remarks by some members of the
house of representatives last week, who accused the senate of routinely
discarding legislation passed by the lower chamber.
Tensions rose after the house delayed consideration of a
senate bill seeking to establish a Federal Orthopaedic Hospital in Obokun, Osun
State.
The bill, which had been listed for second reading on July
2, was stood down amid complaints by lawmakers that the senate often fails to
reciprocate legislative efforts.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com