Election Sequence: NASS risk contempt of court over insistence on overriding President, as pro-Buhari Senators now good to frustrate Senate 2/3 power
A respondent told The DEFENDER that the end was yet to be heard about Senate versus executive impasse as he said, “So long the crop of law makers we have at the National Assembly will continue to make laws to suit themselves and passing same a President that is representing the collective interest of Nigerians to sign to law, you will continue to hear noise from inside the dome. The National Assembly especially the Senate have put themselves in tight corner that hardly is there any Bill they pass that any sane Nigerian can have confidence in. They knew why they wanted to change the order of election sequence but the President has stopped them for good. No question!” He said.
The leadership of Nigerian National Assembly may be risking the wrath of the law by its decision to go ahead with its bill to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to sign the Elector Act (Amendment) Bill 2018 into law, despite the order of Federal High Court Abuja of March 14 barring it from taking any action aimed on the matter.
An Abuja Federal High Court Judge, Justice Ahmed Mohamed had, on Monday, fixed April 25 to deliver judgment in a suit filed by the Accord Party against the National Assembly, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), and Independent National Electoral Commission (INE) to challenge the re-ordering of the 2019 elections in the Electoral Act.
While all of those litigations are in court, the National Assembly had gone ahead to make true its threat to override the President, as its bill to carry out the overriding was said to have scaled through first reading on Tuesday.
The development has been described by many observers as exposing the topmost legislature in the country as taking a lead in causing constitutional crisis in the land with a view to further compounding the issues on the ground.
As the Senate commenced the move to override the President on the amendment of the Electoral Act, Senators have been divided into two camps with one camp standing with President Buhari while the other camp standing with the leadership of the Senate.
For the Senate leadership’s threat against the President over his refusal to sign the Bill passed by the National Assembly re-ordering the sequence of 2019 election to fly, however, it requires a two-third majority to do so where two-third of the Senate is 73 and two-third of the House of Representatives is 240 members.
The anti- Buhari senators, by implication, require 73 to make do their threat and pro-Buhari senators only require 37 to thwart the move and, reportedly, the Pro- Buhari senators said they already have a total of 42 senators who have thrown their weight behind the action of the President on the electoral act.
Some of the senators in the President’s camp are Ali Ndume, Ahmad Lawan, Jibrin Barau, Ovie Oma- Agege, Abdullahi Adamu, Abu Ibrahim and Tayo Alasoadura.
A news report citing the list made available by the pro-Buhari group in the Senate sow the breakdown of its members as: Abia 0 Adamawa 3, Anambra 1, Akwa Ibom 1, Bauchi 0, Benue 1, Bayelsa 0, Borno 1, Cross River 1, Delta 0, Ebonyi 1, Edo 1, Enugu 0, Ekiti 0, FCT 0 and Gombe 0.
Others are Imo 2, Jigawa 2, Kaduna 1, Kano 2, Katsina 3, Kebbi 1, Kogi 0, Kwara 0, Lagos 3, Nasarawa 1 Niger 1, Ondo 3, Osun 2, Oyo 2, Ogun 2, Plateau 2, Rivers 2, Sokoto 0, Taraba 1, Yobe 2 and Zamfara 0.
Section 58(5) of the 1999 Constitution reads: “Where the President withholds his assent and the bill is again passed by each House by two-thirds majority, the bill shall become law and the assent of the President shall not be required.”
With pro-Buhari group already having 42 whereas it requires only 37 to bury the Senate leadership’s threat against Buhari permanently, how the anti-Buhari group will scale through in their plan remains a thing to be told by event.
An APC Senator from Imo State had earlier last month said the Senate would fail in its battle against President Buhari in even that the President decided not to sign the new Electoral Bill into law as passed by the National Assembly.
His reason was that, there was no way the Senate leadership would secure a two-third majority against the President on the matter.
A respondent told The DEFENDER that the end was yet to be heard about Senate versus executive impasse as he said, “So long the crop of law makers we have at the National Assembly will continue to make laws to suit themselves and passing same a President that is representing the collective interest of Nigerians to sign to law, you will continue to hear noise from inside the dome. The National Assembly especially the Senate have put themselves in tight corner that hardly is there any Bill they pass that any sane Nigerian can have confidence in. They knew why they wanted to change the order of election sequence but the President has stopped them for good. No question!” He said.
