There was a drama in the Senate on Tuesday when five senators
announced their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All
Progressives Congress.
But they were immediately ruled out of order by the
Senate President, David Mark, who cited a case they instituted against
him.
The senators, who announced their defection during plenary
in Abuja, are Bukola Saraki (Kwara Central); Aisha Al –
Hassan, (Taraba North); Magnus Abe (Rivers South-East); Wilson Ake
(Rivers West) and Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West).
They are also among the 11 members of the upper arm of the National
Assembly, who forwarded a letter to Mark informing him of their defection
to the opposition APC.
Several efforts by the senators to make the Senate leadership
read the letter had failed.
Saraki started the process of formally announcing their defection
on the floor of the Senate when he raised a point of order,
and cited Section 15 of the Senate Standing Orders 2011 as amended. The orders
have to do with privileges of senators.
He reminded the Senate president of the letter by
the aggrieved senators, including himself, which had not been read on the
floor.
He mentioned Senators Abdulahi, Abe, Ake,
Al-Hassan, Shaba Lafiagi, Ibrahim Gobir, Jibrilla Bindowo, Danjuma
Goje, Ali Ndume, Umar Dahiru and himself as the lawmakers listed in the
letter.
Saraki, a former Kwara State governor, explained that all the
affected senators and their supporters had already obtained the APC
membership cards.
He expressed concern over Mark’s failure to read the letter,
saying his action was preventing their formal movement to a
party of their choice.
The Senate President, however, ruled him out of order by drawing
his attention to the fact that the matter was pending in court.
But Saraki disagreed with him, pointing out that the issue before the
court had to do with their prayers that the Senate
leadership should be stopped from declaring their seats vacant and
not their defection.
Mark again maintained that, “Since the matter is in court, I
cannot act on it, therefore, I rule you out of order.”
At this point, the Senate Minority Leader, George
Akume, raised a point of order under section 14 of the Senate
Standing Orders. He argued that the affected senators should be allowed
to exercise their right to join the party of their choice.
He said, “This is a legislative house and our privileges are guaranteed.
This Senate should not rule the issue raised by Saraki out of order. This
matter has dragged on for a very long time and we cannot stop people from
associating with whoever they like.”
The Senate president also ruled Akume out of order because his line
of argument was on the same issue raised by Saraki.
Mark’s position did not go down well with Akume, who accused
him of infringing on the right of the senators to freely
associate with any group of their choice.
He said, “As the Minority Leader, our rights are being breached
because the affected senators are moving over to our party. They have the
right to move. You are the presiding officer, we have raised a
fundamental issue.
“The court order is not being properly interpreted. We have discussed
this issue in closed session. Saraki has said the matter pending in court has
nothing to do with the issue of defection, so why are they being prevented from
moving?”
Mark disagreed with the submissions of Akume and insisted that
since the matter in contention was in court, he would not act on
it.
He said, “Senator Akume, this matter is in court and I shall make no
further comments on it because I would not want to go contrary to our
standing orders. On the same issue, the affected senators took me to
court and you are pleading privilege, asking me to rule on it.”
Senator Anthony Adeniyi intervened in by pleading with Mark
to read the letter and lay the matter to rest once and for all. But
he was also overruled by Mark.
Immediately, Senators Adamu, Al-Hassan, Abe, and Ake
took turns to announce their formal defection to the APC.
Mark would also not let that stand as he ruled them out of order
by citing some legal implications.
The drama continued when attempts by Senator Ehigie Uzamere
(APC, Edo Central) to announce his defection to the PDP was
frustrated by Mark, who failed to recognise him when he persistently
raised his hand.
Attempts by Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, to draw the attention of Mark to
the frustration of Uzamere, under order 25 (f) , was also
ruled out of order by Mark.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public
Affairs, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, told journalists after the session,
that none of the 11 senators had defected as far as the Senate was
concerned .
He said, “We resolved within the Senate to maintain the dignity of the
upper chamber. In that wise, everything was done today openly and without
rancour.
“We have to give kudos to the Senate and its president for
handling the matter in a manner that Nigerians are very proud of.”
Abaribe, who admitted that senators had the right to
express themselves, stressed that procedures must be
followed in doing so.
He said, “Our rules are very clear, when a matter is in
court, we cannot discuss it. The hands of the Senate President are tied,
he cannot do otherwise and if he does otherwise, it would be
contemptuous of court.
“Therefore, while not saying that the matter has been laid to rest, we
can say sufficiently that the matter has now been handled in such a way
that all sides are aware of their rights and things are going on smoothly in
the Senate.
“As far as the Senate is concerned, there has been no movement
yet. It is the legal opinion sought by the Senate leadership that played itself
out on the floor of the Senate today (Tuesday).”
Abe said, “There is a problem in the Senate and we believe that
Senator Mark has over the years, proved himself as an astute
statesman, democrat and politician. We still believe that our defection
is a problem that has a political solution.
“What we need to do as senators under our leadership is to look for a
solution that will satisfy the desires of individual and the citizens of this
great country.”
Al–Hassan said she left the PDP because
justice was not done to her.
She said, “I had cried too many times that I am suffering injustice,
persecution, and intimidation in my state. I had written the national
leadership and the national secretariat of the PDP so many times and nothing
happened.
“Therefore, I decided to move to the APC where I can get justice. We
submitted a letter which the Senate president said he was not going to read
because there is a pending court injunction.”
Dis is funny nd d whole issues show how godly nd responsible some people are nd how ungodly,irresponsible nd undemocratic some people are,d court case senator Mark is refering to is not d same case wit that of house of rep in which d speaker is part of d respondent nd yet many members of d house has decamp 4rm both parties to d other,d only time d speaker pointed to d court pending case was when d APC wants to take over d leadership which is right 4 d speaker to do nd even d opposition agreed to it,Mark has shown to us now that he is d same undemocratic person like Jonathan,he is also very corrupt nd don't have d love of d masses at heart,soon d whole senate house will be scattered if he keeps frustrating d members thru abusing their rights,Mark has shown himself as a person who is not fit to be a leader in dis country Nigeria at any capacity,it is not compusory 4 everybody to belong to d same party in a democratic system of government but Mark is military man not democratic person
ReplyDeleteWe correct david in d bible, but dis nigeria own na fake. Is a very useless man. Wot do u from a military man like him. D tink say na gun we're talkin about. God wil punish u all. Pdp and apc u're all rogues, ole, barawo.
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