By Nathaniel Zacchaeus
The Senate and the House of Representatives seem to be at daggers drawn against each other’s over separate bills seeking to establish the Federal University of Sports

The Senate had earlier passed its version of the bill and transmitted it to the House for Concurrence.

Instead of carrying out the concurrence, the House of Representatives ignore it and instead, came up with its version.

There was confusion on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday when the Bill was listed among the six sent by the House for Senate concurrence.

The Chairman Senate Committee on Sports and Youths Development, Senator Obinna Ogba (PDP Ebonyi Central), sponsored the Red Chamber’s bill to that effect.

It was considered, passed for a third reading on December 7, 2021, and subsequently transmitted to the House for Concurrence.

The House of Representatives, instead of working on the Senate version, came up with a different one and sought the concurrence of the Senate.

Ogba who sponsored the bill in the Senate, got it read for the second time on May 19, 2021, and passed for a third reading on 7th December 2021.

The Senate in Ogba’s sponsored bill proposed to cite the University in Nkalagu, Ebonyi State while the House version proposed Afuze in  Edo State as the site of its university.

2023: Next President must be physically, mentally fit, say Catholic Knights

Ogba rejected the concurrence of the bill from the Green Chamber claiming that he had earlier in the 8th National Assembly, sponsored the same bill.

The Senator further explained that the bill was passed by both chambers then but this did not get the presidential assent.

He said, “Out of the six bills forwarded to us from the House of Representatives for concurrence, the one listed as number four, seeking for the establishment of Federal University of Sports, Afuze in Edo State, runs contrary to the earlier one passed in the Senate.

“This bill as sponsored by me had been given the required legislative consideration by the Senate with second reading in May 2021 and third reading in December 2021.

“In the version considered and passed by the Senate, Nkalagu in Ebonyi State is proposed as the location for the University and not Afuze, proposed by the House version.

“It is the House that supposed to concur to what the Senate had earlier passed and not the other way round with this request which should be stepped down,” he said.

The Senate President on the strength of Ogba’s submission stepped down the bill from further consideration until the required harmonisation is carried out between the Senate and the House of Representatives

Ogba, however, insisted in a chat with journalists after the plenary that his bill superseded that of the House.

He pledged to see to the end of the matter to ensure that his own was chosen.