• Adopts its 2015 Standing Rule
Another attempt by the All Progressives Congress to assert its supremacy in the election of principal officers of the Senate was again blatantly rebuffed by the upper chamber on Wednesday.
Senate refused to entertain the letter by the APC recommending some senators to occupy the remaining principal officers of the senate, as moves by some APC senators to ensure the letter was read in the chamber was swiftly countered.
It ruled that the letter from the APC National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, ran foul of its rule and therefore could not be read by the President of the Senate, let alone being adopted. It equally adopted its 2015 Standing Rule and declared all amendments therein as valid.
Sen. Gbenga Ashafa (APC-Lagos East), relying on Order 15 of the Senate Standing Order, had asked that the Senate to read on the letter on the floor of the the Red Chamber.
“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.
Ashafa backed the decision of the party leadership to recommend persons to occupy the other remaining principal offices exclusively preserved for the party, citing 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 APC chairman had in 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, Senator Bala Ibn Na’alla (Kebbi State) rose immediately to make contrary submissions on the matter urging the Senate to ignore Ashafa’s position. He explained that the nomination should be made `from’ the party not made `by’ the party.
Na’alla stated that the rule of the Senate had no provision that its principal officers be nominated by a political party. He explained that what was allowed by the Senate Rule was for the Principal officers to emerge from the party that had majority in the Senate not that the party should nominate leaders for the Senate.
“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.
With due respect, the Point of Order raised by my bosom friend and brother, Ashafa, did not hold. The Standing Rule went further to explain the reason why the Senate president shall not proceed to read that letter that was allegedly sent to this chamber by the APC.
I submit that the Senate president cannot read the letter because this matter cannot stand.” Ruling on the matter,
Saraki simply declared, “I have listened to senators Ashafa and Na’ala. Going by the rules and what has been said earlier, I think I will just note what Senator Ashafa has said and we will leave the matter as that. And in that case, I rule that out of order.”
Senate also ratified the amendment made to its standing rule after initial disagreements among members. Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara) had drawn the attention of senators to what he called serious breach of the Senate Rule through illegal amendment of the Rule.
He said that the Eighth Senate had been operating an amended version of the 2011 rule called “Rule 2015” without a valid amendment process as dictated by the Rules.
According to Marafa, there was never a time the Seventh Senate amended the rule to include secret balloting as contained in the 2015 version.
Marafa said: “Mr. President, like I said, the events as we witnessed on the 9th of June, especially as it regards the election of the Deputy Senate President were null and void because they were not in consonance with the provisions of the Standing Orders of this Senate. And if you say we are going to use the Senate Standing Orders of 2015, then we need explanation as to who and who changed our Senate Rules without recourse to Order 110.”
In a swift response, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu explained how the 2015 rule came into being. He said: “I would like to offer explanation to my friend, Senator Marafa. He’s just four years old in this Senate. Some of us have been here for 12 years.
From 1999 till date, this Senate has come up 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. That is why we had Senate Rule Book of 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and now 2015. If he’s seeking to amend any Senate rule, he can only amend the existing one which is the one for 2015. So, between now and 2019, this particular rule will govern us and can be amended in the manner he suggested.
In 2019, we are going to have another Senate Rule of 2019. That has been the process and procedure since 1999. And it is based on the provisions of the Constitution.” Saraki, ruling on the matter, said: “Distinguished Senator Marafa raised a Point of Order. And I think there are two issues he raised in his point. One, there’s only one rule book before us.
That is Senate Standing Order 2015 (as amended). The second issue you raised about 9th of June where by virtue of our actions, I will refer you again to Order 53 (6) which says that it shall be out of order to attempt to reconsider any specific question of which the Senate has come to a conclusion during the current session.
And bringing that matter again goes in contrary to Rule 53 (6). On this note, I will have to unfortunately rule you out of order on that matter.”
The 2015 rule on the election of the Senate president states: “Voting shall be conducted by the clerk at-the-table using division list of the Senate with the tellers in attendance. The Clerk of the Senate shall submit result of the division to the Clerk of the National Assembly.” However, the new Senate rule stated: “Voting by secret ballot which shall be concluded by the clerk-at-table using the list of the Senators-elect of the Senate, who shall each be given a ballot paper to cast his vote, with the proposers and seconder as tellers.”
