Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele has strongly dismissed claims by opposition parties that the National Assembly operates as a rubber stamp for President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The Ekiti Central lawmaker refuted these allegations on Sunday, pointing to the rigorous six-month legislative process behind the 2024 Tax Reform Bills as evidence of the Assembly’s independence.
Opposition figures, including NNPP’s Rabiu Kwankwaso and PDP’s Dele Momodu, had in March accused the Godswill Akpabio-led legislature of being subservient to the executive.
However, Bamidele countered these claims through a statement from his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs.
“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 argued.
He detailed how the tax bills, introduced in November 2024, underwent extensive scrutiny involving 39 executive-legislative engagements before their passage.
The Senate Leader emphasized the depth of consultation: “During this period, the engagements involved diverse interests and stakeholders across the federation. The tax reform bills could have been rushed within one or two weeks. But it took us six months to secure input from all critical stakeholders—civil society organisations, professional bodies, religious leaders, and leaders of thought.”
Bamidele highlighted the Assembly’s deliberate approach, noting they organized public hearings and consulted industry leaders to ensure comprehensive legislation.
“We extended our engagements to all captains of industry to enable us to pass the tax reform bills that will stand the test of time, meet the needs of our people, and ensure the overriding public interest,” he stated.
The lawmaker also cited the 2025 budget process as further proof of legislative independence: “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 to sustain the January-to-December budget cycle.” Instead, the budget presented on December 18, 2024 wasn’t passed until February 13, 2025.
Bamidele explained the Assembly’s preference for behind-the-scenes resolution of disagreements with the executive rather than public confrontations. He lamented that critics focus on labeling the legislature rather than acknowledging its substantive work, concluding that the National Assembly’s actions demonstrate its commitment to thorough, independent lawmaking in the public interest.