Legislative face off:  Reps reject Senate bill, fumes over 146 House bills ignored

The House of Representatives has rejected a bill from the Senate seeking its concurrence, expressing frustration over what it described as the Senate’s continued disregard for over 146 bills already passed by the House.

The bill, titled “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Federal Orthopaedic Hospital Management Act, to Establish Federal Orthopaedic Hospital, Obokun, Osun State and for Related Matters (SB. 169)”, was stepped down during plenary on Wednesday while being considered for second reading.

Kingsley Chinda, the House minority leader, was reluctant to second the motion for second reading of the bill. He instead moved a motion that the bill should not be read for a second time because the Senate has consistently ignored House bills and failed to give concurrence. His commented erupted in a minor uproar as lawmakers supported his argument.

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Abbas Tajudeen, Speaker of the House also raised the alarm over the volume of House bills pending before the Senate. “From what the clerk told me, we have 146 bills that are with the Senate. And I, as a person, have more than 10 bills. Some are there for more than six months. No attention. We don’t know what is really happening. We don’t know what is happening”, he cried.

Adding his voice, Awaji-Inombek Abiante, who represents Andoni/Opobo–Nkoro Federal Constituency in Rivers State, stated, ” I have two bills that have been in the Senate as early as 2024. And, Mr. Speaker, up to now, they have not been listed for concurrence. The same thing happened to my bills in the 9th Assembly, where throughout that Assembly, Senate did not consider the bills that were passed from the House emanating from me, sponsored by me. I do not know how we will continue with this kind of relationship.”

 “I would support, for today, that we should step down the consideration of this bill. We should step it down, and probably you will find out from them what the problems and the challenges have been, why they do not consider bills coming from the House of Representatives.

And if the reasons are not cogent enough, we should reciprocate. We should reciprocate! My submission”, he further said.

Jaha Usman, member representing the Damboa/Gwoza/Chibok Federal Constituency in Borno State, said stepping down the bill will send a message to the Senate.

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“I still maintain the position that the Senate does not, in most cases, consider concurrence from the House of Representatives. I do not know where the problem lies”, he said  while noting that this trend persists the deal signed between  the Rules and Business Committee of the House and the Senate.

“It is better we make it verbatim that if they do not do our own, in the next sitting we are not going to do their own. Let there be tit for tat. Yes, let there be tit for tat. Because the House of Representatives is an institution that cannot be compromised with the Senate, and vice versa. So this is my position. Honorable colleagues, If we step it down it will send a message”, he argued.

Majority of lawmakers were in support of arguments to step down the bill. The House then resolved to  step it down, and subsequently meet with the leadership of the senate to resolve the issue.