Kogi East Senate Tussle: Clerk OF NASS Lacks Constitutional Powers To Administer Oath On A Senator

A Federal High Court Judgment Directing Clerk Of NASS To Swear In AM Alfa, In Error, Null And Void, An Aberration, Unconstitutional, Alien; Negates Senate Rules ‎- Group Says

By Yusuf Abubakar

The clerk of the National Assembly has no constitutional powers to swear in a senator of the federal republic until and unless the amendment of the constitution is carried out by the Assembly

This is however contrary to the judgment of the federal high court delivered by justice Gabriel Kolawole that directed the clerk to swear in AM Alfa as Kogi east senator instead of the Senate President as it remains unenforceable

A constitutional lawyer, Barrister Sadiq Abdul  has urged the senate, people of kogi east to reject the judgment of ‎the court and warned the INEC on the consequences of issuing a certificate of return without carefully studying the implication of the Judgment 

 The constitution of Nigeria was unambiguous about the provisions of the law relating to the procedure of engagements and disengagements of members of the National Assembly and Law makers 

The ambiguity occasioned by the judgment of the federal high court by given order of Judgment to the Clerk of the senate, will trigger another lacuna and constitutional crises ‎when carefully studied, and only it's un-applicability will give a leeway to the legal interpretation of kogi east senate judgment properly

‎"According to the provisions,the Clerk of the Senate is the head of management,he or she has nothing to do with administering the oath of office of/on any senator, hence,the order of the federal high court was given to a wrong person". 

"Further to these, Chapter 1 Order 7 of the Senate Standing Rules 2015,derived from section 60 of the constitution, obeying such order amounts to violating the constitution as the Clerk of the Senate is not party to the case and such an order of the court cannot be binding on him".You can't give an order against someone who is not a party to the suite.He said ‎

The constitutional provision lies with the Senate President and not the clerk,"who by order of the Senate can't administer an oath of office on a Senator,this has never been done anywhere. 

However,INEC decision on the issuance of the certificate of return is a misnomer and the implication of the certificate issued to him was in bad faith 

Conversely,this is not new as senator Albert Bassey,Akwa-Ibom North,is still in the senate representing his constituency inspite of such certificate issued to Bassey Etim Akpan from the same area.

Other instances include, two members of the House of Representatives from Enugu state are typical incidences of this aberration. 

"There is already a Supreme Court decision that says,once there is a stay of order,an application for stay and notice of appeal, no party by decision of the Supreme Court is allowed to take further action".