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| Sen. Mark |
Attempts to declare the seats of former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) vacant failed yesterday at the Senate.
Senator Ita Enang (Akwa Ibom Northeast) through a Point of Order, urged Senate President David Mark to declare vacant the seats of the 11 PDP senators who wrote the Senate on their defection to the APC.
Enang, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business, attempted to convince Mark of the need to declare the seats vacant.
Those the senator wanted to vacate their seats include Abubakar Bukola Saraki, (Kwara Central); Magnus Abe, (Rivers South East); Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West); Wilson Ake (Rivers West) and Aisha Jumai Al-Hassan.
The five senators openly declared for the APC on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday.
Enang urged Mark to invoke the powers conferred on him as the Senate President to declare the seats of the defectors vacant.
A competent source told our correspondent that the resolution to compel Mark to declare the seats of the defectors vacant was taken at the PDP Senators’ Caucus meeting on Tuesday.
The meeting was summoned after five senators of the ruling party openly announced their defection to the APC on Tuesday.
The source, who pleaded not to be named, said the threat to declare the seats of the affected senators vacant was a ploy to intimidate them into dropping their defection bid.
Enang said: “Yesterday (Tuesday) Senators Abubakar Saraki, Abdullahi Adamu, Aisha Alhassan, Magnus Abe and Wilson Ake declared on the floor of the Senate that they are no more in the PDP. This is the party that sponsored them to the Senate; this is the party that owns the seats they are sitting on.
“Mr. President, I have two judgments of the court to present before this distinguished Senate, to show that the seats of Senators Saraki, Aisha Alhassan, Abdullahi Adamu, Magnus Abe and Wilson Ake are vacant on the floor of the Senate and they are strangers on the floor of the Senate.”
But before Enang could conclude his argument, there was uproar in the chamber. When it subsided, Mark gave Enang the floor once more.
Enang added: “I have the judgment of Justice E. S. Chukwu, delivered on October 18, 2013, in the PDP versus INEC, Abubakar Baraje, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and others, which declared that there is no division in the PDP.”
Another session of uproar among the senators ensued, but Enang was unperturbed.
He said: “Mr. President, in the judgment of the Supreme Court, in the case of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) against Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, states that…
“I, therefore, move that you exercise the powers conferred on you, Mr. President, to declare their seats vacant.”
Mark said: “Enang, I believe you were here yesterday when I stated that this matter is before a court of law. My ruling is not going to be any different, because it is on the same issue.
“More importantly, we all agreed that no reference shall be made to any matter that is pending in court.
“Let me say that I, as the Chief Law Officer in this chamber, I will not sit here and make reference to any matter that is before any court. Therefore, I rule you out of order.”
Enang insisted that the seats of the affected senators be declared vacant on the basis of the Senate rule and constitutional provisions.
But Mark did not want to hear that.
Mark said: “Senator Ita Enang, I believe you were in the chamber yesterday (Tuesday) and I went to a great length to say that this matter is before a competent court of law. It is a constitutional matter. But also, our rule is very clear that no reference shall be made to any matter before a competent court of law.
“Because this matter is before a competent court of law, I shall make no further reference to it. Ita Enang, I, therefore, rule you out of order.”
George Thompson Sekibo (Rivers East) raised Order 14 (a), which deals with privilege of senators.
He referred to the defectors as non-senators who should not be allowed to sit in the chamber.
The senator also urged Mark to declare the seats of the defectors vacant, in line with constitutional provisions.
Mark also ruled him out of order because the matter was before a competent court of law.
Babajide Omoworare (Osun East) cited Section 1(3) of the Constitution, which provides that if any other law is inconsistent to the Constitution, the Constitution should be supreme.
The senator noted that Enang could not move a motion on a matter that contradicts Section 68(2) of the Constitution.
He posited that it was obvious the seats of the defectors could not be declared vacant, especially when the Senate President lacked the power to do so.
Mark, who also ruled Omoworare out of order, almost lost his cool.
The Senate President noted that though every senator had the right to raise a point of order, his position on the issue was well known.
He said: “Everybody knows where I stand and my stand on this issue will not change. My stand is that the issue is before a competent court of law. Because you also came through point of order, I rule you out of order.”
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