The Senate passed a resolution
on Thursday empowering it and the House of Representatives to take over
the legislative functions of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
In the resolution which concurs with
that of the House on July 10, the Senate also flayed the attempt by five
anti-Rotimi Amaechi lawmakers to impeach the state Assembly Speaker,
Otelemaba Amachree.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Information and Media, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said after the decision
that a meeting between the President of the Senate, David Mark, and the
Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, would
be held to draw up modalities for the running of the assembly.
Abaribe, in a telephone interview in
Abuja, explained that with the concurrence which is in line with Section
11(4) of the 1999 Constitution, the activities of the state
legislature stood suspended.
He said, “As it stands now, the
Rivers State House of Assembly has been suspended by virtue of the fact that it
can no longer carry out its legislative functions.
“The principal officers of both
chambers of the National Assembly will meet to discuss and
agree on the procedures for running the assembly.
“From there, we will await
subsequent instructions from the Chairman of the National Assembly.”
Section 11(4) of the 1999
Constitution states, “At any time when any House of Assembly of a state is
unable to perform its functions by reason of the situation prevailing in that
state, the National Assembly may make such laws for the peace, order and good
government of that state with respect to matters on which a House of Assembly
may make laws as may appear to the National Assembly to be necessary or
expedient until such time as the House of Assembly is able to resume its
functions; and any such laws enacted by the National Assembly pursuant to this
section shall have effect as if they were laws enacted by the House of Assembly
of the state: Provided that nothing in this section shall be construed as
conferring on the National Assembly power to remove the governor or the deputy
governor of the state from office.”
The Senate Committee on State and
Local Governments which investigated the crisis in the assembly had
presented its report during plenary in Abuja. It recommended that
the assembly be taken over and fingered President Goodluck
Jonathan, his wife, Patience, and the national leadership of the Peoples
Democratic Party for being behind it.
The committee
recommended, “That the National Assembly should, as a matter of urgency,
take over the functions and duties of the Rivers State House of Assembly,
pursuant to Section 11(4) of the 1999 Constitution(as amended) pending the
resolution of the crisis and restoration of peace in Rivers State.”
Senators, in a voice vote, passed the
resolution without any dissenting voice.
The same was the case for the two
other prayers which are:
* “That the Inspector-General of
Police should as a matter of urgency, redeploy the state’s Commissioner
of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, since his relationship with
Governor Amaechi had broken down irretrievably and;
*“That the Senate President should
intervene and mediate in the Rivers State political crisis and see to its
amicable resolution.”
Although the recommendations were 17,
the committee had to reduce them to three after meeting behind closed doors for
about five hours.
The recommendation not
taken was the prayer that the Director-General of the Department
of Security Service should “investigate and cause the prosecution
of Chidi Lloyd (Majority Leader of the state assembly) and
all those found to be actively involved in attacking Michael Chinda and
other members of the assembly.”
The panel also urged the DSS to
investigate and recommend for necessary disciplinary action, the officers and
men of the police and other security personnel that invaded the assembly’s
chambers. Besides, it recommended that Evans Bipi, who
led the anti-Amaechi legislators “ be investigated and if found culpable,
prosecuted for bringing armed thugs into the chambers and for the assault on
the Speaker and other members of the assembly which precipitated the
crisis.”
The committee also called on the
different stakeholders to take steps to restore peace to the
state, especially as it affects the relationship between the Governor and the
Police as well as between him (Amaechi) and other political stakeholders in the
state.
In its findings, the committee
observed that “The crisis in the assembly on July 9, 2013 was
the expression of deep-rooted political crisis occasioned by the alleged
highhandedness of Governor Amaechi and the perceived undue interference with
the political and security structure of the state by the President, his wife
and the national leadership of the PDP.”
The panel reported, “The purported
impeachment of the Speaker by the five members led by Bipi was not
in compliance with the provisions of Section 92(2)(c) of the 1999
Constitution (as amended) and also not in compliance with Orders 12
and 28 of the state assembly Standing Orders 1999.”
While presenting the report, Chairman
of the Senate Committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya, said he was summarising the
prayers to three as advised.
After concluding his presentation, he
advised that the security operatives withdrawn from Amaechi
be restored but senators did not make comments after the presentation.
President of the Senate, David Mark,
in his remark, said the Senate was only committed to restoring peace to
the state.
He said, “As our desire to ensure
peace returns to Rivers State, let me add that the National Assembly will
uphold, defend and protect the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
as we have all individually sworn to do. And this we will do at all times and
at all costs.
“Minority members of the Rivers
State House of Assembly cannot remove and should not contemplate the
removal of the Speaker or anyone else for that matter and should
perish the thought if they ever haboured it.
“Our institutions of state should
also uphold the constitution at all times and should not in any way encourage
the impression that the impunities of the past are possible today. This
National Assembly, for the avoidance of doubt, will resist impunity and
unconstitutionality. This is the stand of the Senate.”
He said the committee had not
indicted anyone and that the Senate remained neutral in its effort to
find a lasting solution to the problem.
Tags
Politics
That's a good one. The senators have acted maturely as they use to do.
ReplyDeleteGood one.una try for dis wan.well done mi senators.
ReplyDeleteI jst pray it com 2pass
ReplyDelete