Senate Leader Senator Opeyemi Bamidele has strongly rejected accusations from opposition parties that the National Assembly is merely a rubber-stamp institution for the executive arm of government.
In a statement released on Sunday by the Directorate of Media and Public Affairs from the Office of the Senate Leader, Bamidele argued that the parliament's thorough legislative process contradicts such claims.
"If we are actually a rubber-stamp parliamentary institution as most opposition political parties have claimed, the bills would have been passed within one week or two weeks after they were laid before us," Bamidele stated, specifically referencing the Tax Reform Bills of 2024.
According to the Senator representing Ekiti Central, the National Assembly held over 39 meetings with the executive arm to address contentious areas in the Tax Reform Bills before their eventual passage. The bills, which were initiated in November 2024, underwent six months of legislative scrutiny before being approved.
Bamidele emphasized that the legislative process involved extensive consultations with diverse stakeholders, including civil society organizations, professional bodies, religious leaders, and captains of industry. The Senate Leader noted that these engagements were necessary to ensure the bills would "stand the test of time" and serve the public interest.
"We extended our engagements to all captains of industries to enable us pass the tax reform bills that will meet the needs of our people and ensure the overriding public interest in the exercise of our constitutional mandates," he explained.
The Senate Leader also cited the handling of the 2025 Appropriation Act as further evidence of the legislature's independence. The budget, presented to the National Assembly on December 18, 2024, was not passed until February 13, 2025, following thorough scrutiny by various committees.
"If the National Assembly was actually a rubber stamp, it could have hastened the passage of the 2025 Appropriation Bills by the end of the 2024 fiscal year in order to sustain the January to December budget cycle," Bamidele argued.
The opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party, and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), have consistently criticized the National Assembly since its inauguration on June 13, 2023, describing it as a rubber-stamp institution that fails to provide adequate checks on executive power.
Bamidele countered this narrative, stating that the National Assembly's approach of strategic engagement and partnership with the executive should not be mistaken for subservience.
"We are working in the interest of the people. We are always taking into consideration the need to ensure good governance in all our undertakings and the need to use legislative frameworks to promote good governance in the federation," he concluded.
