By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The Senate on Sunday reeled out its modest achievements to commemorate its mid-term anniversary on June 13.
The Red Chamber emphasised its priority to implement key reforms of the country’s electoral system in preparation for the 2027 general election.
The upper legislative chamber also disclosed that no fewer than 983 bills – both executive and private members’ bills – were introduced between June 13, 2023, and June 12, 2025, 108 of which were fully passed into law within the timeframe.
The Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, made these revelations in a statement he released on Sunday to commemorate the mid-term exploits of the country’s foremost legislative institution.
Both chambers of the 10th National Assembly were inaugurated on June 13, 2023, following the election of Senator Godswill Akpabio as President of the Senate and Tajudeen Abbas as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The election of the presiding officers also resulted in the appointment of Senator Barau Jubrin as Deputy President of the Senate and Benjamin Kalu as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, among others.
Reflecting on the Senate’s midterm exploits in the first half of the 10th National Assembly on Sunday, Bamidele explained how the institution had leveraged the instrument of strategic engagement to carry out its constitutional mandates, enacting legislations that stabilised the country’s fiscal, monetary and political environments.
He said, “In the 2024/2025 legislative year, for instance, 506 bills were initiated in the Senate alone compared to 477 in 2023/2024.”
This, he said, represents a 6.07% increase. Additionally, in the 2024/2025 legislative year, the upper chamber passed 83 bills into law, compared to 25 in the previous legislative year.
He said, “This represents truly a remarkable feat that glaringly accounts for a 232% increase in the number of fully enacted legislations between 2023 and 2025. Against 13 executive bills introduced in the 2023/2024 legislative year, the Senate introduced 26 executive bills in the 2024/2025 legislative year, indicating a 100% increase.
“This record shows that 464 private member bills were initiated in 2023/2024 compared to 480 in 2024/2025.
“By 2024/2025 legislative year, 89 bills are awaiting first reading in the upper chamber as against 135 in 2024/2025; 45 awaiting second reading in 2023/2024 compared to 230 in 2024/2025; 215 appointments were confirmed in 2023/2024 compared 116 in 2024/2025 and 50 different petitions successfully resolved in 2023/2024 with 80 duly addressed in 2024/2025.”
Bamidele, specifically, listed some of the 108 bills passed into law, including the National Social Investment Programmes Act, 2023; Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2024; National Minimum Wage Amendment Act, 2024; Investments and Securities Act, 2025; Regional Development Commission (Establishment) Acts, 2025 and the Tax Reform Bills, 2025, among others.
The senate leader, therefore, discussed the significance of the Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) Act of 2024, which, according to him, redefined access to tertiary education and significantly crashed the number of dropouts across the federation.
As displayed on the dashboard of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, according to Bamidele, 1,094,057 students have applied for the scheme. Of this figure, 563,279 institutional loans have been granted, while 530,773 upkeep loans have been processed. Without purposeful collaboration, the student loan scheme would not have come through.
He also cited the case of the Tax Reform Bills, 2025, describing its passage as a testament to the resolve of the 10th National Assembly to end the country’s fiscal challenge and carry out far-reaching reforms that would eliminate structural inefficiencies in the country’s tax administration; simply tax obligations for businesses and citizens; boost investors’ confidence in the domestic economy and catalyse monumental growth across all sectors.
As the second half of the 10th National Assembly gets underway in earnest, Bamidele assured all Nigerians that they can look forward to reforms of the country’s electoral system, a review of the 1999 Constitution, as well as reforms of the judiciary, among other key priority areas, which will receive significant attention.
He noted that the lawmakers would prioritise reforms of the country’s electoral regime “to ensure every vote continues to count; guarantee good governance in the country and make participation in our electoral process more interesting for the decent and innocent citizens.
“When you know that if you contest for an election, your vote will count. This assurance will make democracy more engaging for our people, enhance voter participation in the process, and increase the credibility and transparency of our electoral system.
“We are equally looking forward to greater judicial reforms in the next two years to ensure justice is done transparently and tenaciously.
“We already have various bills that seek the reforms of the judiciary. While some are seeking a review of how judges and judicial officers are appointed, others focus on their length of service and welfare.”
