The House of Representatives was last week tensed as a result
of the High Court judgement of Justice Adeniyi Ademola which declared
the seat of 37 lawmakers who defected from the PDP to APC vacant. While
APC lawmakers have instituted an appeal against the judgement, Adesuwa Tsan writes that the House has taken a stand to allow litigation process run its full course.
Amidst a charged atmosphere in the House of Representatives last week with members of the PDP plotting to move a motion to implement last Monday’s High Court judgement that said on moral ground, the 37 lawmakers who defected from the PDP to APC cannot continue to sit as lawmakers in the House.
When the House resumed on Tuesday, all the ‘T’s had been crossed and the ‘i’s dotted by the PDP caucus to move a motion to that effect but for the timely intervention of the speaker, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who appealed for patience in handling the issue.
This led to the closed door session held by the lawmakers the next day, Tuesday. Among other
things, the lawmakers noted that in the interest of all lawmakers, it is best not to set a precedence that will later tighten a noose around their necks. Cases of lawmakers who were still lawfully seated in the chamber due to appeals against court rulings that sacked them served as ready reminders.
This much was confirmed by Hon Afam Victor Ogene, deputy chairman of the House while briefing journalists on this issue.
Ogene, who also stated that the speaker is not under any pressure from any group, individual or party to declare the 37 seats vacant, especially as they all unanimously agreed to stay action on court cases till they run the full course of the law.
“There were no pressures on Mr Speaker, if there were, we would have held this closed door session yesterday but we decided to wait till all the parties in the case to get served.
“We agreed to allow different cases in court regarding defections of some members to go through the full course and in arriving at that decision, the House took cognisance of the fact that precedence had been set even before last Friday and Monday judgements”, the spokesman said.
The lawmaker then went further to cite an example of a member from Osun State who defected from APC to Labour Party and is currently in court over his status.
He also debunked reports by some news media (not LEADERSHIP) that the speaker, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and his deputy, Hon Emeka Ihedioha are among the members of the APC members who filed an appeal against a High Court judgement that declared their seats vacant for defecting from the PDP.
“We noticed that some publications tried to drag the person of the speaker into this. The speaker did not appeal on individual basis..he has no personal interest in the ongoing matter in court. Their (speaker and deputy speaker) offices will address this issue so we shouldn’t try to introduce mischief into the ongoing process”, he said, while adding, “ remember that they were made nominal defendants in the two cases; the appeal was filed by the 37 members that defected from the PDP. The National Assembly management as an institution has a right to appeal if they so desire”.
Ogene said aside defection, the lawmakers also discussed the growing trend of partisanship in carrying out business of the House during the meeting, having noticed that it is beginning to block the judgment of parliamentarians.
“We decided to insulate the House from the growing trend of partisanship that is beginning to arise in the House during plenary.
We decided that in line with the decision we took during our inauguration, we should keep party aside to make good laws for order, peace and development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that our core mandate as members of the House of Representatives”, he added.
We will not vacate our seats-37 Reps
The APC caucus had earlier stated that they will ensure their affected members do not vacant their seats according to a court ruling. In defiance of what it described as a misleading court ruling by Justice Adeniyi Ademola, the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the House of Representatives declared that the 37 members who defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not vacate their seats.
Speaking on behalf of the caucus in the National Assembly, minority whip, Hon Samson Osagie (APC, Lagos) said that the part of the ruling that mentioned the lawmakers vacating their seats was a mere “opinion” since the case before the court was only to stop a change of leadership in the House.
The lawmaker said; “We want to assure members of the public that there is no court judgment before the House directing any member of the APC to vacate his or her seat”.
He continued, “A section of the media and indeed the public have been misled by the court ruling into believing that the said judgment has effectively terminated the tenure of office of the affected members. This is not only untrue, but also a mere obiter dicta expressed by a judge who veered off the course of the case before him in order to do the bidding of the ruling party. At best the judgment has turned law on its head and cannot stand”.
“For avoidance of doubt, let me state unequivocally on behalf our members that the import of yesterday ruling was that our 37 members cannot participate in the removal of Principal Officers of the House nothing more, nothing less. Every other pronouncement by the Judge as to the status of our 37 members of the House was a mere opinion.
“In any event, this judgment was given in vain and in ignorance of the House rules which govern the appointment of party leaders in the parliament. It is also an attempt by the court to meddle in the internal affairs of the parliament. This certainly is not the import of the doctrine of judicial review.
“As we speak our colleagues have appealed the vexatious ruling and we hope to get justice soon. We believe the House of Representatives will take due notice of the appeal in this case”.
According to him, “section 68 (2) of the 1999 Constitution makes it clear that satisfactory evidence must be presented to the House before any of the provision of S.68 (1) can become applicable.
Faulting Justice Ademola on the aspect of not retaining seats for moral reasons, he stressed that the law applies in this case and not issues of morality. Adding that the ruling was just as they expected based on the preservative order that was issued as soon as the argument against his jurisdiction in the case was taken, he said, “Members were elected into the House based on law.
“The question of morality was unsolicited for. What we are experiencing today is the highhandedness of the ruling party that wants to retain power by hook or crook”.
“Our fears were further confirmed when the judge after granting the reliefs sought in the suit went ahead to render an opinion on issues that were not before him nor solicited by the plaintiffs”, he added.
Similarly, Hon. Andrew Uchendu (APC, Rivers) who led the 37 lawmakers to defect to the APC said they have the moral justification to leave the PDP because the party has been factionalised in the last 16 to 22 months. “We remain on sound moral ground to have left PDP”, he maintained.
Amidst a charged atmosphere in the House of Representatives last week with members of the PDP plotting to move a motion to implement last Monday’s High Court judgement that said on moral ground, the 37 lawmakers who defected from the PDP to APC cannot continue to sit as lawmakers in the House.
When the House resumed on Tuesday, all the ‘T’s had been crossed and the ‘i’s dotted by the PDP caucus to move a motion to that effect but for the timely intervention of the speaker, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who appealed for patience in handling the issue.
This led to the closed door session held by the lawmakers the next day, Tuesday. Among other
things, the lawmakers noted that in the interest of all lawmakers, it is best not to set a precedence that will later tighten a noose around their necks. Cases of lawmakers who were still lawfully seated in the chamber due to appeals against court rulings that sacked them served as ready reminders.
This much was confirmed by Hon Afam Victor Ogene, deputy chairman of the House while briefing journalists on this issue.
Ogene, who also stated that the speaker is not under any pressure from any group, individual or party to declare the 37 seats vacant, especially as they all unanimously agreed to stay action on court cases till they run the full course of the law.
“There were no pressures on Mr Speaker, if there were, we would have held this closed door session yesterday but we decided to wait till all the parties in the case to get served.
“We agreed to allow different cases in court regarding defections of some members to go through the full course and in arriving at that decision, the House took cognisance of the fact that precedence had been set even before last Friday and Monday judgements”, the spokesman said.
The lawmaker then went further to cite an example of a member from Osun State who defected from APC to Labour Party and is currently in court over his status.
He also debunked reports by some news media (not LEADERSHIP) that the speaker, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and his deputy, Hon Emeka Ihedioha are among the members of the APC members who filed an appeal against a High Court judgement that declared their seats vacant for defecting from the PDP.
“We noticed that some publications tried to drag the person of the speaker into this. The speaker did not appeal on individual basis..he has no personal interest in the ongoing matter in court. Their (speaker and deputy speaker) offices will address this issue so we shouldn’t try to introduce mischief into the ongoing process”, he said, while adding, “ remember that they were made nominal defendants in the two cases; the appeal was filed by the 37 members that defected from the PDP. The National Assembly management as an institution has a right to appeal if they so desire”.
Ogene said aside defection, the lawmakers also discussed the growing trend of partisanship in carrying out business of the House during the meeting, having noticed that it is beginning to block the judgment of parliamentarians.
“We decided to insulate the House from the growing trend of partisanship that is beginning to arise in the House during plenary.
We decided that in line with the decision we took during our inauguration, we should keep party aside to make good laws for order, peace and development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that our core mandate as members of the House of Representatives”, he added.
We will not vacate our seats-37 Reps
The APC caucus had earlier stated that they will ensure their affected members do not vacant their seats according to a court ruling. In defiance of what it described as a misleading court ruling by Justice Adeniyi Ademola, the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the House of Representatives declared that the 37 members who defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not vacate their seats.
Speaking on behalf of the caucus in the National Assembly, minority whip, Hon Samson Osagie (APC, Lagos) said that the part of the ruling that mentioned the lawmakers vacating their seats was a mere “opinion” since the case before the court was only to stop a change of leadership in the House.
The lawmaker said; “We want to assure members of the public that there is no court judgment before the House directing any member of the APC to vacate his or her seat”.
He continued, “A section of the media and indeed the public have been misled by the court ruling into believing that the said judgment has effectively terminated the tenure of office of the affected members. This is not only untrue, but also a mere obiter dicta expressed by a judge who veered off the course of the case before him in order to do the bidding of the ruling party. At best the judgment has turned law on its head and cannot stand”.
“For avoidance of doubt, let me state unequivocally on behalf our members that the import of yesterday ruling was that our 37 members cannot participate in the removal of Principal Officers of the House nothing more, nothing less. Every other pronouncement by the Judge as to the status of our 37 members of the House was a mere opinion.
“In any event, this judgment was given in vain and in ignorance of the House rules which govern the appointment of party leaders in the parliament. It is also an attempt by the court to meddle in the internal affairs of the parliament. This certainly is not the import of the doctrine of judicial review.
“As we speak our colleagues have appealed the vexatious ruling and we hope to get justice soon. We believe the House of Representatives will take due notice of the appeal in this case”.
According to him, “section 68 (2) of the 1999 Constitution makes it clear that satisfactory evidence must be presented to the House before any of the provision of S.68 (1) can become applicable.
Faulting Justice Ademola on the aspect of not retaining seats for moral reasons, he stressed that the law applies in this case and not issues of morality. Adding that the ruling was just as they expected based on the preservative order that was issued as soon as the argument against his jurisdiction in the case was taken, he said, “Members were elected into the House based on law.
“The question of morality was unsolicited for. What we are experiencing today is the highhandedness of the ruling party that wants to retain power by hook or crook”.
“Our fears were further confirmed when the judge after granting the reliefs sought in the suit went ahead to render an opinion on issues that were not before him nor solicited by the plaintiffs”, he added.
Similarly, Hon. Andrew Uchendu (APC, Rivers) who led the 37 lawmakers to defect to the APC said they have the moral justification to leave the PDP because the party has been factionalised in the last 16 to 22 months. “We remain on sound moral ground to have left PDP”, he maintained.
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