The National Assembly is currently gripped with fear of plans to have Senate President Bukola Saraki impeached. The rumours of impeachment intensified this morning when lawmakers arrived at the National Assembly to find the place locked down by the members of the State Security Services.
Senators from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) raised alarm that some 30 members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were being allowed into the National Assembly chambers through the back door to impeach the senate president.
Since the defection of Saraki from the ruling APC to the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) last week, some APC senators loyal to President Buhari, including Senate Majority Leader, Ahmad Lawan; his predecessor, Ali Ndume; Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Abdullahi Adamu; his counterpart in Police Affairs, Abu Ibrahim as well as Ovie Omo-Agege have called on the Senate President to vacate the seat or be impeached.
Adamu who chairs the Parliamentary Support Group in the upper legislative chamber, insisted that: “Saraki had stepped on banana peel and should be prepared to bear the consequences of his action.” In a statement at the weekend, Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa State and one-time ally of Saraki, urged the nation’s Number Three Citizen to step down to avert consequences, adding that “he should honourably return the crown or be ready to bear the consequences.”
When reminded that there was a precedence where former Speaker of House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, defected but remained the Speaker, Adamu said “it will not happen this time. We are more educated on the rules now.”
But checks by BusinessDay on the Senate Standing Orders, 2015 (as amended) reveals that electing Presiding Officers is based on ranking and not on political leaning.
Specifically, Order 3(2) states that: “Nomination of Senators to serve as Presiding Officers and appointments of Principal Officers and other Officers of the Senate or on any Parliamentary delegations shall be in accordance with the ranking of Senators. In determining ranking, the following order shall apply: (i) Senators returning based on number of times reelected; (ii) Senators who had been members of the House of Representatives; (iii) Senators elected as Senators for the first time”.
Tambuwal, the Sokoto State governor who cross carpeted from PDP to APC in 2014 without vacating his seat, said the constitution does not recognise the election of Presiding and Principal Officers on the basis of party affiliation. The governor, who was among the political heavyweights that returned to PDP from APC last week, accused the governing party of double standard.
“When they talk about cross carpeting, I begin to wonder. When I cross carpeted the other time, did they complain? When I hear that some people are trying to break into the chambers of the Senate to steal the mace and install a pseudo President of the Senate I wonder whether they actually know the rules of our democratic engagement. It’s not a Gestapo. We are in democracy. And the constitution of this country is very clear that members of the Senate and the House of Representatives can choose from among themselves their own President of the Senate or Speaker (of House of Representatives) without leaning to any political party. It is a question of confidence of members of the chamber” Tambuwal said.
Also the 1999 Constitution (as amended) is clear on what it will take to impeach Saraki. Section 50 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) deals with the removal of Presiding Officers of both legislative chambers of the National Assembly.
Unlike the impeachment of the President or his vice, which takes a minimum of three months, impeaching the Senate President can be carried out at any legislative sitting so long as they meet the constitutional requirement of two-thirds majority of the house. This means a minimum of 73 senators are needed to impeach the Senate President.
Section 50 of the Constitution provides that:
50. (1) There shall be:-
(a) A President and a Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves; and
(b) A Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.
(2) The President or Deputy President of the Senate or the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives shall vacate his office:
(a) If he ceases to be a member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of the Senate or the House of Representatives; or
(b) When the House of which he was a member first sits after any dissolution of that House; or
(c) If he is removed from office by a resolution of the Senate or of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of the members of that House.
With the current composition of PDP controlling the Senate with 55 senators as against APC’s 50, APGA and ADC one each and two vacant seats, it is impossible for either PDP or APC senators to impeach Saraki without the support of lawmakers from both sides.
However, Rafiu Ibrahim (PDP, Kwara South), told the media that lawmakers belonging to the Parliamentary Support Group, received the sum of $1m each to impeach Senate President Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu. The lawmaker made the disclosure in an interview with BuisnessDay at the National Assembly. His allegation could not be confirmed.
Senator Ibrahim, who belong to Pro-Saraki group, also protested the invasion of the National Assembly by officers of the Department of State Services and Police Force.
He said: “I can authoritatively tell you that those senators behind the desecration of the National Assembly collected $1m each to impeach the Senate President and his Deputy. You can quote me anywhere on this”.
Also, another prominent member of the Pro-Saraki group, Dino Melaye (PDP, Kogi West) accused the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole of collecting signatures of lawmakers with the aim of effecting a leadership change in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.
Melaye, while bringing his colleagues up to speed on the plot by members of the PSG, said the APC National Chairman was in a meeting with Pro-Buhari Senators to collect signatures for Saraki and Ekweremadu’s impeachment.
“The Chairman of APC is currently meeting with some APC Senators. As I speak, we understand he is collecting signature for the senate president’s impeachment.”
“We also understand that after collecting the signatures they will be proceeding to the National Assembly to carry out their plan. We are waiting for them”, the lawmaker added.
