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