The Senate has refuted allegations by the House of Representatives accusing it of persistently stalling concurrence on legislative proposals transmitted from the green chamber.
Speaking during Tuesday’s plenary at the National Assembly, Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, maintained that the red chamber remained committed to national interest and inter-chamber cooperation, disclosing that six concurrence bills from the House were considered just last week.
The clarification followed a resolution by the House to suspend further consideration of bills originating from the Senate, citing delays in concurrence on over 140 House-passed bills many of which were sponsored by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen.
Akpabio dismissed the claims, stating; “We cannot joke with concurrence bills from the House of Representatives. It takes two hands to clap. We have been attending to the bills from the House and will continue to do so in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.”
Echoing his position, Bamidele noted that the first two items on Tuesday’s Order Paper were concurrence bills from the House.
He added;“Only last week, the Senate concurred to six bills from the House of Representatives. We understand the principle of reciprocity, but it does not mean ‘garbage in, garbage out.’
“We have a constitutional duty to exercise due diligence. We will continue to treat all concurrence bills with the seriousness they deserve, in line with the overriding public interest and our legislative mandate.”
The Senate further pledged to sustain its collaborative relationship with the House of Representatives to advance national development.
