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“Certain questions easily come to mind when interrogating this ill-thought-out self-serving amendment. Who is sure that a ranking Senator will be voted into any session of the Senate? By the dictates of our Constitution, any qualified citizen can contest to become a Senator. As Akpabio is attempting to even make the qualification to stretch to eight years, who is sure that a ranking member with eight-year pre-qualification experience will be elected by the Nigerian people?’
Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria engaged in a rowdy session recently with Senator Adams Oshiomohle over the amendment of the Senate rules. Akpabio wanted to amend the Senate rules to capture the Senate leadership for himself for the 11th assembly session before even he concludes the 10th. At the root of the disagreement was an attempt by Akpabio to ensure that the post of the leadership of the Senate is reserved only to ranking Senators who have been in the Senate for at least eight years prior to the election of the leadership for any session of the Senate, with the Senator being part of the immediate preceding session.
This position didn’t sit well with Adams Oshiomohle, because this meant automatic disqualification for him to contest to become the Senate President in the 11th session of the Senate. He challenged Akpabio on the floor of the Senate by raising a point of order. His point of order was overruled. He insisted on moving his point of order. This led to an altercation between them. It is worthy of note that Akpabio backpedalled the next day when the Senate re-amended the amended rules to recognise that the Senators must elect the leadership of the Senate before taking their oath of allegiance. The reason they did this was in recognition that their rules are null and void to the extent of their inconsistency with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.
The position of the Constitution is very clear on the eligibility to become a Senate President or leader of the Senate. Section 50(1) states that “there shall be a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.” The procedure to elect the Senate President has also been stated in the Constitution. Section 52(1) states that “every member of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall, before taking his seat, declare his assets and liabilities as prescribed in this Constitution and subsequently take and subscribe the oath of allegiance and the oath of membership as prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to this Constitution before the President of the Senate or, as the case may be, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, but a member may before taking the oaths take part in the election of a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, as the case may be, or a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The position of the Constitution is very clear that the only qualification one needs to have before becoming a Senate President is to be a member of the Senate. There is no position like a “Ranking Senator” in the Constitution. Akpabio and some of his intended Senate capturers failed to understand some peculiarities of the Nigerian Constitution as regards the Senate. Each Senate session is dissolved completely and the next session is a brand new Senate where everyone is equal and the leaders are mere first among equals. Every Senator has one vote.
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The rules are made by the preceding session, which is usually dissolved at the end of the session. These rules are not binding on the members of the new Senate before they are sworn in as members of the Senate. By section 52(1) of the Constitution, the oath of membership of the Senate is administered to the members only after they have elected their leaders. This is why the Constitution provided elaborately on who should be a Senate President and how the procedure should be conducted. The procedure is that they should vote one of them (member elect) as Senate President. As members elect, they are all equal. The election of the leadership of the Senate is organised by the clerk of the National Assembly, not any committee set by the Senate. The instruction of the Constitution to the clerk is to allow members to choose one person from among the Senators to lead them. At this point, no Senator has any power to preside over the Senate or raise any point of order, because they have not been sworn in as members. This might be the reason Akpabio tried to change the rule so that Senators would be sworn in before the election of their leaders. Of course he had to eat the humble pie when he had to be compelled to reverse the rule after the Senate determined that it offended section 52(1) of the Constitution.
There is no doubt that the Senate has the power to regulate its procedures. Section 60 states that “subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Senate or the House of Representatives shall have power to regulate its own procedure, including the procedure for summoning and recess of the House.” A clinical look at this provision reveals that it is made subject to other provisions of the Constitution. This means that section 60 of the Constitution is subject to or inferior to sections 50(1) and 52(1) of the Constitution. So whatever procedure the Senate makes to regulate how it elects its leadership must not enlarge or contract the qualifications and procedures stated by the Constitution.
Supreme Court has held that “no law, legislation, regulation, rules or guidelines of whatever nature can come into effect so as to undermine the effect of a constitutional provision.” Deciding on whether a person qualified to contest an election by virtue of 1999 Constitution can be disqualified under any other law, the Apex Court held that a person who is qualified to contest an election by virtue of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) cannot be disqualified by the operation of any other law in force in Nigeria. The Constitution takes precedence over all other laws. (Agi v PDP (2017) 17 NWLR (Pt. 1595) 386 at 452 para D). Applying this decision to the matter at the Senate, it is respectfully submitted that the Senate rules cannot disqualify any member-elect who is qualified by the Constitution to become Senate President.
Certain questions easily come to mind when interrogating this ill-thought-out self-serving amendment. Who is sure that a ranking Senator will be voted into any session of the Senate? By the dictates of our Constitution, any qualified citizen can contest to become a Senator. As Akpabio is attempting to even make the qualification to stretch to eight years, who is sure that a ranking member with eight-year pre-qualification experience will be elected by the Nigerian people? The idea that an extant Senate should make rules to bind the incoming Senate without factoring in what Nigerian people want is a clear indication that corrupt politicians already believe that the opinion of the people is irrelevant since they rely that they will rig their way through.
Assuming that some ranking Senators even make their way back to the Senate, who is sure that they would be qualified for the job of Senate President? Being a ranking Senator does not make you to possess the qualities of a Senate President. Competence, character, and capacity should be the criteria to choose the Senate President and not longevity in the Senate. Most times some of those long serving Senators are there because of their loyalty to their godfathers who choose sycophants rather than qualified people to be Senators.
Another begging issue is the issue of federal character in the election of Senators. Federal character principle is a constitutional provision that compels inclusivity among the political units within a constituency. In Enugu North Senatorial District, there are three federal constituencies within which the position of a Senator rotates. No constituency has held the position more than eight years. It rotates within eight years. If Akpabio’s amendment were to be the law, it means nobody from Enugu North Senatorial District or any other District in Nigeria that ensures fairness among their constituents can be Senate President. This amendment, if allowed, will certainly encourage sit tight members of the Senate in order to be qualified to become Senate President.
The most troubling implication of this amendment is that if it succeeds this means that the Senate has been captured by a cabal that Senator Ali Ndume referred to as the kakistocrats and kleptomaniacs – government by the worst of us and desperate thieves. If these sets of leaders are perpetuated in the Senate, our democracy is gone. Nigeria needs a vibrant Senate to check and balance the Executive to ensure the flourishing of our democracy and enforce accountability to the Nigerian people. This function is dead in the Akpabio-led Senate of Nigeria of today and it is negatively affecting every sector of the society.
Without an effective Senate, and with the rules being amended to ensure life Senate Presidency, nothing stops the emergence of President Tinubu as a life President if he succeeds in being re-elected under an Akpabio life Senate Presidency. This is why every well meaning Nigerian should rise up against any plan to amend the Senate rules to capture the Senate as this is a prelude to the capture of Nigeria by the worst of us.
