By NEFISHETU YAKUBU

The Senate on Thursday passed the Nigerian Employees’ Compensation Trust Fund Agency Establishment Bill, 2026, and the Federal Polytechnics Act Amendment Bill, 2026.

The bills were passed after the Senate recommitted them to the Committee of the Whole during plenary for further legislative scrutiny and consideration of necessary amendments.

The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele who moved the motion, said certain provisions of the bills required further review to ensure administrative clarity and a comprehensive legal framework.

He urged the Senate to rescind its earlier decisions on the bills and recommit them to the committee of the whole for consideration and passage.

Seconding the motion, Sen. Kamorudeen Oyewumi (APC- Osun west) said the exercise would remove ambiguities and align the bills with legislation establishing similar institutions.

The senate subsequently considered the bills clause by clause and approved their provisions.

Bamidele said that the Nigerian Employees’ Compensation Trust Fund Agency Establishment bill seeks to repeal the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund Act and the Employees’ Compensation Act and replacing them with a new framework.

According to the senate leader, the proposed legislation provided compensation for death, injury, disease or disability arising out of, or in the course of, employment and related matters.

Bamidele said the Federal Polytechnics Act Amendment Bill seeks to amend the existing law governing federal polytechnics by reviewing their functions and addressing related matters.

Both bills were subsequently read for the third time and passed by the senate.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio commended the senate leader and lawmakers for their contributions, adding that the bills would support workers’ welfare and strengthen technical education.

Akpabio said the legislation would help protect workers through compensation provisions while ensuring that technical institutions served the country’s economic development needs. (NAN)