Some eminent lawyers yesterday came
down heavily on the National Chairman of
the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams
Oshiomhole, over his recent utterances
since he assumed his new position.
Specifically, among the utterances lawyers
raised issue on was the one credited to
Oshiomhole saying that, “No Court will save
Saraki.”
The lawyers, who spoke, noted that such
statement was a sign of disrespect to the
nation’s judiciary.
They, however, reminded him that he cannot
be a judge in his own case.
Oshiomhole had been calling for the
resignation of the Senate President Bukola
Saraki since he defected from the APC to
the PDP.
He had stressed several times that Saraki
ought to vacate his seat, having left the
party on which platform he assumed the
seat of the Senate President.
He had also threatened that the APC
senators will impeach him and that no
court can save him.
Commenting, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria
(SAN), Chief Mike Ozekhome and a Vice
President of the Nigerian Bar Association
(NBA), Mr. Monday Ubani, both cautioned the
APC national chairman to be wary of his
utterances in his party’s quest to ensure
the impeachment of Saraki.
Oshiomhole had while addressing APC’s
caucus in the National Assembly on Tuesday
stated that no court could save the
Senate’s President.
However, in his reaction, Ozekhome, disclosed
that the APC national chairman ought to
know that court’s decision on any matter
is final and no executive fiat can override it.
He said: “A court’s decision on any matter is
final. No executive fiat can override it. The
tripartite doctrine of separation of powers
is found in Sections 4 (Legislation), 5
(Executive) and 6 (Judiciary), of the 1999
Constitution as amended. None of these
arms of government can act in disobedience
of the other.
“That doctrine of separation of powers was
mostly popularised in 1748 by a great
French philosopher, Baron de Montesquieu.
Once a court gives a judgment, all
governments, persons and authorities must
obey it. Not to do so is a ready recipe for
anarchy and chaos. Such torpedoes
democracy and conscripts the democratic
space.”
In his submissions, Ubani urged Oshiomhole to
be circumspect in his approach to issues.
He said: “Mr. Chairman, note that I am not a
fan of Mr. Saraki and I have not hidden my
disdain for his personality and activities in
the upper chamber, but try to be wise in
some of your utterances and note that we
have intelligent and educated people in
Nigeria. We are not all fools, for God’s sake.
“The four ways for Mr. Saraki to leave the
present seat as required by law are (1)
Death (2) Resignation (3) Dissolution and (4)
Impeachment by two – third majority of
the entire membership of the Senate,
approximately 73 senators. See Section
50(2) (c) of 1999 Constitution as amended:
“Section 50 (1) says, 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.
“The present status though not confirmed
hundred percent in the Senate is, PDP 49
senators and APC 52, the remaining for APGA
and ADC.
“So, I ask, how will the APC senators as
presently constituted impeach Mr. Saraki,
the Senate President? Is Mr. Oshiomhole
planning an impeachment that will not
comply with the strict provisions of the
ground norm, the 1999 Constitution as
amended?
“How do they intend to muster the 73
senators as required by law or is he
engaging in intimidation, bullying and noise
making which reduces his personality before
right thinking members of the society?
“The “monster” Saraki was created by APC in
their naive political engineering and I think
the best approach would have been to
handle him with wisdom and intelligence in
order to get the best out of him in the
interest of Nigeria.
“With the present configuration, the Senate
cannot also impeach Mr. President, it is
impossible legally. They can’t even try it,”
Ubani said.
Another Abuja based lawyer, Kingdom Okere,
noted that in the constitution which calls
for amendment, it did not specifically
provide that the presiding officers shall be
elected from the majority political party.
“It is just a matter of convention, harmony
and understanding among members of the
majority party in both chambers that
presiding officers had emerged from
majority political party over the years,” he
stated.
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