The Senate has proposed budgetary and administrative sanctions against ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) that fail to comply with its resolutions, citing a recurring pattern of disregard for legislative directives.
The recommendation emerged on Wednesday after the Senate Committee on Legislative Compliance presented its report on the implementation of resolutions adopted by the upper chamber between July 2023 and December 2025.
Presenting the report during plenary, Garba Maidoki, the committee chairman, disclosed that the panel examined 27 referrals generated from Senate motions and committee reports within the review period.
According to him, many of the resolutions had either been implemented late or ignored entirely, with several government agencies failing to submit compliance reports despite repeated reminders.
“The implementation of Senate resolutions is often delayed and sometimes ignored,” he said.
Maidoki noted that while the executive arm has the responsibility of enforcing Senate resolutions, several MDAs had consistently failed to respond to requests for updates, thereby weakening the legislature’s oversight function.
He explained that the committee discovered that some agencies attributed their inability to implement resolutions on road rehabilitation and disaster response to the absence of budgetary provisions for the projects.
The lawmaker also referenced the case of Eromonsele Omhonria, a child allegedly shot in the eye by an operative of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), saying efforts to secure funding for the child’s overseas medical treatment had yet to yield results.
“The attorney-general and the office of the minister of finance have not been able to make any headway in retrieving this compensation,” Maidoki said.
The committee further criticised the failure of some government agencies to carry out Senate directives ordering the reinstatement of disengaged employees.
As an example, Maidoki cited the Nigerian Railway Corporation’s refusal to reinstate former employee, Engr. Paddy Ukpe, despite repeated interventions by the committee.
“Most of these MDAs, when they conclude their assignment, refer the final recommendation to the head of service. Unfortunately, none of the recommendations sent to the head of service has ever received a response,” he said.
He added that similar concerns had arisen regarding the Nigerian Army’s handling of Senate resolutions relating to the reinstatement of some officers.
The report also identified structural challenges affecting implementation, noting that some agencies lacked the legal authority to execute certain resolutions, while others stemmed from motions introduced without sufficient preliminary investigation.
It also observed that motions containing multiple recommendations often created implementation difficulties.
To address the persistent non-compliance, the committee recommended the imposition of budgetary and other sanctions on MDAs that fail to respond to or implement Senate resolutions.
Among the agencies identified are the Federal Ministries of Works, Health, Power, Petroleum Resources, Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Information, Environment and Solid Minerals Development, alongside the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Ecological Fund Office, Nigerian Railway Corporation, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Federal Civil Service Commission and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The committee also proposed that Senate resolutions delayed due to funding constraints should automatically be incorporated into the following fiscal year’s budget through the Appropriations Committee.
It further advised MDAs requiring funds to implement Senate resolutions to route such requests through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
In addition, the panel urged the executive to direct the NDLEA to identify alternative funding sources for Omhonria’s medical treatment, while calling on the SGF to ensure that the Nigerian Railway Corporation and other affected agencies comply with Senate resolutions by reinstating disengaged workers and paying their outstanding entitlements.
The Senate subsequently adopted all the committee’s recommendations.
Commenting on the report, Senate President Godswill Akpabio described it as historic, saying it was the first comprehensive legislative compliance report ever presented to the National Assembly since the return to democratic rule in 1999.
“The committee on legislative compliance since 1999 has never submitted this kind of report,” Akpabio said.
He urged lawmakers to carefully study the report and deploy its recommendations to strengthen legislative oversight and improve compliance with resolutions passed by the Senate.
