By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The Senate yesterday rejected allegations of reluctance to consider and pass over 140 concurrence Bills transmitted to it by the House of Representatives.
The Red Chamber said it had never shirked its responsibilities towards the House of Representatives based on the principle of reciprocity.
It stressed that legislative collaboration should not mean automatic approval of Bills without required scrutiny.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said this during plenary, assuring the Green Chamber that the Senate had been attending to its Bills.
Bamidele said: “Only last week, this Senate concurred with six Bills from the House of Representatives. And yes, while we respect the principle of chamber reciprocity, it does not mean ‘garbage in, garbage out.’
“We will continue to consider concurrent Bills sent from the House of Representatives the same way they consider ours, and we will ensure that every bill is given attention in the overriding public interest.”
The House of Representatives had rejected a Senate Bill in protest of alleged similar treatment by the Red Chamber.
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 consideration for second reading.
House Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda made a motion against the Bill’s progression, citing the Senate’s alleged inaction on House-originated Bills.
His motion was met with loud approval from House members.
“We have 146 Bills with the Senate, some over six months. No attention. We don’t know what is really happening,” Speaker Abbas Tajudeen said.
Adding his voice to the House’s dissatisfaction, Awaji-Inombek Abiante (PDP, Rivers) said he had two Bills pending before the Senate since early 2024.
“The same thing happened in the Ninth Assembly. Senate didn’t consider my bills at all,” he said.
The lawmaker urged the House to take a firm stance.
“If the reasons for the delays are not cogent, we should reciprocate,” he said.
Another member, Jaha Usman (APC, Borno), echoed the sentiment, saying: “The Senate does not, in most cases, consider our concurrence. If they don’t act on our Bills, we shouldn’t act on theirs. Let there be tit for tat.”
But Senate President Godswill Akpabio reassured the House of the Senate’s continued cooperation.
He said: “Last week, we attended to about six of those Bills. This week, I know we are going to do at least two, and we’ll continue to do so. Please let our brothers in the House know that we cannot joke with anything that comes from there.
“It takes two hands to clap, and we’ll continue to work together.”
Akpabio added: “You are doing well. You have done very well. We commit to considering all House Bills, and we will devote the next two weeks to doing that so that you will bring more Bills in the interest of the Nigerian people.
“We want to finish the consideration of those Bills sent in by you because we don’t joke with you.”