Compromise and skipping of legislative processes in passing bills, especially with the unanimous agreement of senators, are completely unknown to law, an investigation has revealed.
  
The Senate’s Standing Rule, a set of regulations the upper legislative chamber put together in line with the 1999 Constitution to guide its legislative proceedings, strictly forbids the practice.
  
Amid the tension generated by the recent face-off between Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Chief Whip, Mohammed Ali Ndume, The Guardian carried out an investigation, which showed that the misunderstanding might have been fuelled by arbitrary deviation from the rule.
  
However, Akpabio has insisted that his political relationship with Ndume is intact despite speculations in many quarters.Since its inauguration on June 13, the Akpabio-led Senate, 10 of these have been passed for second reading.  
  
And among those that have been debated, just a few have attracted serious comments from the lawmakers and public. They include the Bill for an Act to Amend the National Investment Programmes Act 2023. The other controversial one was a motion on the closure of the nation’s border.
 
The practice of jumping key processes in passing bills was at the root of misunderstanding between Akpabio and other lawmakers, led by Ndume, in recent times.
 
The probe found that neither the Constitution nor the Senate rule book condone such practice. Order 79(1) of the Standing Rule reads:  “Every bill shall receive three readings previous to its passage, which readings shall be on different days, unless the Senate unanimously directs otherwise and the President of the Senate shall give notice at each reading whether it is first, second or third.”
   
It, therefore, means that the Senate leadership cannot rush these stages in a day or two without the consent of all senators present. Before a bill is sent or committed to a committee for further legislative work, it passes through several procedures none of which can be compromised for the other.
  
The standing rule also listed the key processes, which must be strictly adhered to. According to section 77 of the Senate Rule, “Notice of presentation of a Government Bill shall be given by publication of the provisions proposed to be embodied in such Bill in an issue of the Official Gazette or National Assembly Journal of which a copy shall have been sent to every senator.”