A brewing crisis in Nigeria’s National Assembly is threatening to stall the legislative process, as the House of Representatives has suspended consideration of all bills originating from the Senate, citing prolonged delays in the upper chamber’s treatment of House-passed bills.
The suspension follows growing frustration among House members, who accused the Senate of routinely ignoring over 140 bills transmitted to it by the lower chamber, some of which have been pending for more than six months.
Speaker of the House, Hon. Tajudeen Abass, announced the decision during plenary, declaring that the House would no longer continue with Senate bills unless there is a firm commitment that House bills would receive similar attention.
“This imbalance is unacceptable. We will no longer consider their bills unless we get a firm commitment that ours will be treated with the same urgency,” Speaker Abass stated.
The impasse reached a boiling point during the consideration of a Senate bill to establish a federal orthopaedic hospital in Obokun, Osun State. The bill, titled “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 met with stiff resistance from lawmakers.
Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, who was called upon to second the motion for the bill’s second reading, reluctantly did so while decrying the Senate’s persistent neglect of House bills.
“But we don’t get that same treatment at the Senate. Mr Speaker, having said so, I will reluctantly second the motion for the second reading of this bill,” Chinda said, drawing applause from several lawmakers.
Supporting the Minority Leader, Hon. Ahmed Jaha (APC, Borno) accused the Senate of consistent disregard for House initiatives. He called for an institutional response, urging the Rules and Business Committee of the House to engage its Senate counterpart to find a resolution.
“My suggestion is that we step down this and subsequent Senate bills. Let them know that if they won’t treat ours, we won’t treat theirs. Let there be tit for tat. The House cannot be undermined by the Senate,” Jaha declared.
Hon. Dogomie Abiante (PDP, Rivers) echoed similar frustrations, revealing that two of his bills transmitted since early 2024 remain unattended to by the Senate, a situation that mirrored his experience in the 9th Assembly.
“We cannot continue with this kind of lopsided relationship. Let us step down this bill and find out why the Senate is not acting on ours. If their reasons are not convincing, we must reciprocate,” Abiante said.
Also weighing in, Hon. Ahmed Satomi, Chairman of the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, proposed that a timeframe be instituted within which the Senate must act on House bills—or have them deemed passed by default.
“If a time-bound mechanism is possible, where concurrence must happen within a defined period or be deemed accepted, it would solve this problem,” Satomi suggested.
Attempting to ease tensions, Speaker Abass acknowledged the Senate’s failure to reciprocate the House’s legislative efforts, revealing that 146 bills remain with the Senate, some unattended to for over six months—including more than ten he personally sponsored.
“This is very worrisome. My appeal is that, going forward, unless we receive reasonable assurance from the Senate regarding our bills, we should not proceed with theirs,” the Speaker concluded.
Under Section 58 of the 1999 Constitution, a bill must be passed by both chambers of the National Assembly before it can be sent to the President for assent. However, the current rift between the House and Senate threatens to paralyse that process, with both chambers now at a legislative standoff.
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