According the legal luminary - Saraki's Election AS Senate President is Legal
The issue of illegality has been ruled out in the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as the senate president by the president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Augustine Alegeh (SAN).
The issue of illegality has been ruled out in the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki as the senate president by the president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Augustine Alegeh (SAN).
According to the Punch, Alegeh said that Saraki’s emergence border on moral ground not on legal.
According the legal luminary, “Inaugurating the National Assembly is considered as an ordinary business and for an ordinary business, the requirement of a quorum is one-third. So, legally, there was a quorum. You can argue from a moral perspective but legally, it is in order.”
He faulted the All Progressives Congress (APC) for not being very proactive in handling it internal affair even they have enough time to do wondering why the party have to wait till the last minute.
In Alegeh word, ““The general election was held in March/April and we are in June. There was enough time for the party to meet with the lawmakers and agree on all these issues. Why wait till the last minute?
“We must understand that if a time had been fixed for the inauguration, one would expect that all those who want to be inaugurated, given the importance of that event, should have arrived on time. The Clerk of the National Assembly, who is in charge of determining such, said there was a quorum. It will be difficult for me to fault that.
“There is a need to have respect for institutions. If the Senate was having an inauguration, other people should respect that fact and schedule meetings appropriately. The day for the inauguration of the House is a very important day in a democracy,” he advised.
About 51 APC senators had threatened to go to court to challenge Saraki’s victory. Another APC senator, Bamabas Gemade, had said that the 57 senators that were present when election for senate president was held were not enough to form a quorum to elect the new leadership of the senate.
The senior advocate explained that 57 senators that were in the chamber when Saraki was elected unopposed were enough to form a quorum. He noted that having form a quorum, all decisions taken at the time is binding on the senate.
He said, “The APC were very active in aiding Aminu Tambuwal to become Speaker in 2011 even though the PDP wanted somebody else. And if you look at the performance of Tambuwal, you will find it admirable to a large extent. He was not impeached and there were hardly any threats of impeachment. He had a handle of the House even though he was not the favoured candidate of the party.
“The lesson to learn is that the legislature is becoming increasingly independent of the party and the executive.”
The NBA president advised that now that elections are over, the National Assembly needed to be united in order to deliver the change that Nigerians demand.
Meanwhile, Alegeh has commended President Buhari for maintaining neutrality in the affairs of the legislature advising the APC to put it house together in order not make the same mistake as the PDP
