—Says NASS, FG held 39 meetings before passage of Tax Reform Bills, 2024
—Rejects use of parliament to grandstand over national issues
From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, on Sunday pushed back against accusations from opposition parties labelling the National Assembly (NASS) a “rubber-stamp” institution, insisting such claims lack merit and ignore the legislature’s behind-the-scenes engagements.
Speaking through a statement issued by the Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, Office of the Leader of the Senate, Bamidele described the allegations as unfounded and politically motivated. He said:
“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.”
According to him, the Tax Reform Bills, 2024—which were introduced in November 2024—only scaled through legislative scrutiny in May 2025 after no fewer than 39 meetings between the National Assembly and the Executive.
“These were not just ceremonial meetings,” Bamidele explained.
“They included closed-door sessions, public hearings, consultations with civil society groups, professional associations, religious leaders, and captains of industry. These engagements ensured that every grey area was addressed before the bills were passed.”
The Senate Leader, who represents Ekiti Central, stressed that the National Assembly has always operated with strategic engagement rather than combative politics, aiming to serve the people rather than score political points.
“Rather than grandstanding on the floors, we opted for constructive dialogue. That’s how true democracies work. Not everything has to become a show,” he said.
Bamidele also pointed to the 2025 Appropriation Act as another example of the Assembly’s diligence. The budget was presented to the National Assembly on 18th December 2024 and passed on 13th February 2025—a move that some critics said disrupted the January-to-December budget cycle.
Bamidele, however, said the delay was necessary to ensure transparency and accuracy:
“We did not give the budget back to the executive until February 2025. We did a lot of due diligence. Every committee of the National Assembly duly engaged heads of agencies to properly scrutinise the budget also in the overriding public interest.”
He said the consistent claim of being a rubber-stamp body ignores the National Assembly’s responsibility to balance efficiency with scrutiny.
“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.”
The Senate Leader emphasised that the Assembly’s non-adversarial approach should not be mistaken for passivity, adding that the parliament would continue to act in the public’s best interest regardless of political noise.