Senate rejects move to read APC’s letter imposing other key officers
(Nigeria) The Senate on Wednesday rejected a move by some All
Progressives Congress, APC, senators to read the letter by the APC recommending
some senators to occupy other principal officers of the senate.
It will be recalled that the APC senators on Tuesday, threw
caution to the wind, as they fought each over who gets the other key Senate
positions.
On Wednesday, Sen. Gbenga Ashafa (APC-Lagos East), who
relied on Order 15 of the Senate Standing Order, urged that the President of
the Senate should read on the floor of the Red Chamber the letter from the
Party.
``Yesterday, most of the media houses carried a letter that
was written by the Chairman of our great party, the APC. We were expecting that
that letter which has been received in your office will be read in order to see
to the resolution of the party leadership tussle,” he said.
He backed the decision of the party leadership to recommend
persons to occupy the other positions exclusively preserved for the party.
Quoting from Order 28 (1) he read: ``There shall be a
Majority Leader of the Senate. The Majority Leader shall be a senator nominated
from the party with the highest number of senators.
``I believe that that letter should have been read to the
hearing of all senators here present. Perhaps that will be the solution to the
leadership tussle in the Senate,” he said.
The APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, had in
a letter dated June 22, 2015, recommended Senators to occupy the other
principal positions.
The letter recommended Sen. Ahmad Lawan as Senate Leader;
George Akume, Deputy Senate Leader; Olusola Adeyeye as Chief Whip; and Abu
Ibrahim as Deputy Whip.
However, Sen. Ibn Na'Allah (APC-Kebbi South) immediately
countered the point of order and explained that the nomination should be made
`from’ the party not made `by’ the party.
``By the ordinary principles of interpretation of documents that
have been agreed by parties, the ordinary letters and words used must be given
their effective meaning. Order 28 used 'from', not 'by'. What this seeks to do
is to deter the minority party from nominating the Majority Leader,” he said.
The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, who presided
over plenary, ruled Sen. Ashafa out of order and declined to read the said
letter.
He said: ``I have listened to Senators Ashafa and Na'Allah.
Going by the rules and what has been said earlier, I think I will just note
what Senator Ashafa has said. We will leave the matter as that and in that
case, rule that out of order.”
Another attempt was made by Sen. Kabir Marafa (APC-Zamfara
Central) to question the June 9 election of Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu, but that
too was ruled out of order by the President of the Senate.
Marafa, relying on Order 110 and 3 (e) (i), of the Senate
Standing Order, sought to know which of the Order Books (2011 or 2015) was
being used to coordinate the activities of the 8th Senate.
He described the 2011 Senate Standing Order as 'genuine and
authentic' thereby countering the authenticity of the Senate Standing Order
2015.
``I am still referring to the events of June 9, 2015, in
this chamber. I have two Order Books and I am running into confusion, and I
think there's a need for the President to rule. Which of the Order Books are we
going to use to coordinate the activities of this Senate?’’ he asked.
Marafa insisted that there was a conflict in the two books
as to the procedure that should be taken for election of presiding officers of
the senate.
Proffering explanation, the Deputy President of the Senate,
Ike Ekwerenmadu, said that from 1999 till date, the Senate had come with its
own rules.
``There was Senate Rule of 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and now
2015. The reason is quite simple. If you look at Section 64 of the 1999
Constitution it says that the Senate and House of Representatives shall each
stand dissolved at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the
date of the first sitting of the house.
``So, the implication is that the rule he was referring to
ended with the Senate on the 6th of June,” he said.
The President of the Senate thereafter ruled Sen. Marafa out
of order.
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