Senate defers to Tinubu, rescinds, revisits two rejected bills

The Senate deferred to President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday as it rescinded and reconsidered two bills the President had earlier rejected.

Tinubu had withheld his assent to the Raw Materials Research and Development Council Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Management of Nigeria (Establishment) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

The bills were turned down on the grounds of “fundamental issues “, leading to the President returning them to the National Assembly.

The Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, while moving a motion to rescind the bills for reconsideration, told his colleagues that the Federal Ministry of Justice, upon conducting a critical examination of both bills, recommended further legislative consideration and advised against presidential assent.

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“Further notes that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria returned the bills to the National Assembly with observations for re-consideration”, Bamidele stated.

To defer to Tinubu’s objections and bring the bills in line with his observations, a technical committee from both chambers of the National Assembly, working in collaboration with the Directorate of Legal Services, was constituted to resolve the issues.

The Senate, at Tuesday’s session presided over by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, accordingly rescinded the bills and recommitted them to the Committee of the Whole for fresh consideration.

The bills were subsequently passed for a third reading a second time, having concurred with Tinubu’s position.