Tit For Tat between Senate and House of Reps over Passage of Bills: Who Benefits/In Whose Interest?

By Taiwo Olapade

There are strong indications that the House of Representatives may be heading for a showdown with the Senate over what has been described as unacceptable, consistent disregard by the Red Chamber for over 140 House-originated bills awaiting Senate action.

The process of a bill becoming law requires that both chambers pass such for the third reading, harmonise it for concurrence, and thereafter send it to the President for his assent.

However, this seems not to be the case, as the House of Representatives accused the Senate of lagging behind in passing the bills emanating from it and therefore resolved to step down all bills transmitted from the Senate for concurrence. This looks more like tit-for-tat from our revered National Assembly members.

During the heated debates on the undue delay of bills transmitted to the Senate for concurrence, the House stepped down two bills sponsored by the Senate Leader, Senator Bamidele Opeyemi, after the adoption of a motion raised by the Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, in response to a Senate bill seeking to amend the Federal Orthopaedic Hospital Management Act to establish the Federal Orthopaedic Hospital, Obokun, Osun State, sponsored by the Senate Leader.

The question now begging for an answer is: in whose interest is the seemingly ongoing loggerheads between the House of Reps and the Senate? Was it a matter of power tussle between the Red and Green Chambers, or was it another diversionary tactic that some of our political elites are so good at deploying to take the minds of the people away from those issues on the front burner?

Whatever the case, the question remains the same: in whose interest is the loggerheads between the House of Representatives and the Senate?

I guess this development should make us interrogate how many Nigerians are aware of the bills passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by Mr. President. Ignorance is not an excuse before the law, they say. But the fact remains that despite the public hearings conducted by the National Assembly on the bills before their passage, many Nigerians are still not aware of the entire process.

For some, the National Assembly may not be held responsible for lack of awareness on the bills passed since due process was followed. However, it is incumbent on different committees to ensure improved public awareness of their primary legislative duty.

Finally, must the President be the one to intervene and resolve this faceoff before it further escalates for the overall good of Nigerians?

Yes, I think he should, because in the long run, this will slow down executive-legislative functions in the country.

The present time demands that all hands must be on deck to fast-track the socio-economic development of the country, protect lives and property, create a conducive environment for businesses to thrive, as well as put food on the table of the people. Until this is achieved, many Nigerians will continue to have the mindset that the President Tinubu-led government is yet to fulfil the Renewed Hope Agenda he promised during the electioneering campaign and even after taking the mantle of leadership two years after.

Taiwo Olapade, a broadcast journalist, writes from Lagos.