Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has strongly dismissed claims by opposition parties that the 10th National Assembly is a rubber-stamp institution, described such assertions as baseless and misleading.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, Office of the Leader of the Senate, Bamidele stated that the legislature could not have been subservient to the executive, given its rigorous legislative processes and commitment to national interest.
Citing the passage of the Tax Reform Bills, 2024, Bamidele revealed that the National Assembly held over 39 meetings with the executive arm to address grey areas before the bills were eventually passed.
“If we were truly a rubber-stamp parliament, the bills would have been passed within one or two weeks. But it took us six months of engagement with civil society organisations, professional bodies, religious leaders, and industry stakeholders before we arrived at a final version,” Bamidele explained.
He added that the process involved several closed-door sessions and public hearings to ensure all critical inputs were considered.
The Senate Leader also referenced the 2025 Appropriation Act, which was laid before a joint session of the National Assembly on December 18, 2024, but was not passed until February 13, 2025.
“If we were merely rubber-stamping, the budget would have been returned before the end of 2024 to maintain the January-December budget cycle. Instead, we conducted due diligence and ensured all agencies were properly scrutinised by the relevant committees,” he stated.
Bamidele urged critics to recognise the National Assembly’s commitment to good governance and its constitutional duty to serve the public interest through legislative diligence, rather than resorting to political grandstanding.
