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From Fred Itua, Abuja
A recent judgment by a Federal High Court in Abia State that declared Section 84(12) of the new Electoral Act illegal, caused a heated debate, yesterday, on the floor of the senate between lawmakers elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Trouble started when Senator Thomson Sekibo from Rivers State led his colleagues through the various functions of the three arms of government and argued that the ruling by the court, nullifying their action, was a bad precedence that must not be allowed to stand.
He said if allowed to stand, future actions of the parliament would be challenged in courts by interested parties.
Relying on Order 10 and 11 of the Senate Standing Rules, Sekibo urged his colleagues to suspend other activities and debate the issue.
“This issue is very important. Those who went to court to challenge our action, didn’t include us as an interested party. We were not even aware that a matter was even in court. Suddenly, we were told that a judgment was given and the Federal Government immediately gazetted it. This is dangerous and we need to take a position immediately. This is important to guide against such occurrences.”
His position was supported by Chukwuka Utazi, who said the motion was in order. However, Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, who presided, urged his colleagues to defer the issue until the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, takes over on Wednesday.
While the All Progressives Congress (APC) senators supported the position, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers kicked.
Chief Whip of the Senate, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, urged his colleagues to opt for a closed door session before the issue would be discussed in public. He urged them to wait until Lawan returned to preside over plenary.
Senator Uche Ekwunife from Anambra State, however, argued that based on the Standing Rules, the deputy senate president, by law, becomes the president, anytime he was presiding.
When the issue was subjected to voice vote, senators in favour of deferring the debate had their way. The senate is expected to exhaustively debate the issue on Wednesday, after which their position would be made known.
