DEFECTIONS……... QUOTE 68. (1) A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall vacate his seat in the House of which he is a member if - (a) he becomes a member of another legislative house. (b) any other circumstances arise that, if he were not a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives, would cause him to be disqualified for election as a member; (c) he ceases to be a citizen of Nigeria; (d) he becomes President, Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor or a Minister of the Government of the Federation or a Commissioner of the Government of a State or a Special Adviser. (e) save as otherwise prescribed by this Constitution, he becomes a member of a commission or other body established by this Constitution or by any other law. (f) without just cause he is absent from meetings of the House of which he is a member for a period amounting in the aggregate to more than one-third of the total number of days during which the House meets in any one year; (g) being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected; Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored; or (h) the President of the Senate or, as the case may be, the Speaker of the House of Representatives receives a certificate under the hand of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission stating that the provisions of section 69 of this Constitution have been complied with in respect of the recall of that member. (2) The President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, shall give effect to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, so however that the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives or a member shall first present evidence satisfactory to the House concerned that any of the provisions of that subsection has become applicable in respect of that member. (3) A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall be deemed to be absent without just cause from a meeting of the House of which he is a member, unless the person presiding certifies in writing that he is satisfied that the absence of the member from the meeting was for a just cause. ---------------- 109. (1) A member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if - (a) he becomes a member of another legislative house; (b) any other circumstances arise that, if he were not a member of that House, would cause him to be disqualified for election as such a member; (c) he ceases to be a citizen of Nigeria; (d) he becomes President, Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor or a Minister of the Government of the Federation or a Commissioner of the Government of a State or a Special Adviser; (e) save as otherwise prescribed by this Constitution, he becomes a member of a commission or other body established by this Constitution or by any other law; (f) without just cause he is absent from meetings of the House of Assembly for a period amounting in the aggregate to more than one-third of the total number of days during which the House meets in any one year; (g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected: Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored; or (h) the Speaker of the House of Assembly receives a certificate under the hand of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission stating that the provisions of section 110 of this Constitution have been complied with in respect of the recall of the member. (2) The Speaker of the House of Assembly shall give effect to subsection (1) of this section, so however that the Speaker or a member shall first present evidence satisfactory to the House that any of the provisions of that subsection has become applicable in respect of the member. (3) A member of a House of Assembly shall be deemed to be absent without just cause from a meeting of the House of Assembly unless the person presiding certifies in writing that he is satisfied that the absence of the member from the meeting was for a just cause. UNQUOTE Notice the sections highlighted in red. Point #1: We must notice that upon defection, even where certain qualifications for loss of position of membership of the relevant House has been satisfied, the loss is NOT AUTOMATIC: either the Senate President, or the Speaker of the House, or a member of relevant body SHALL FIRST PRESENT SATISFACTORY EVIDENCE about the infraction. So it is NOT the duty of the Inspector-General, or the Presidency, or ANYBODY outside the relevant House to point this infraction out. [INEC initiates action ONLY on the issue of RECALLS, but even then, the House has to act on it..] Pesumably after that, there must be a vote in the House about being SATISFIED with said evidence. Point #2 is more serious: how to PROVE the defection SATISFACTORILY? For starters, one presumes that (1) you must have a PARTY MEMBERSHIP CARD to be a member of a Party; (2) you have PAID RELEVANT DUES, AND (3) you have ATTENDED party meetings to be a member. (4) hence you were ORIGINALLY sponsored by that party. Clearly, merely SAYING SO ON TV or RADIO or in the NEWSPAPERS that you are a member of Party A does not count for membership. Even VOTING on issues with PARTY A in the House does not make you a member of PARTY A; you may merely be a rebel member of Party B. On the contrary, therefore, to QUIT a party and DEFECT to another, one presumes that (1) you have TURNED IN the membership card of the old party and (2) taken that of the new one; (3) you have STOPPED attending the meetings of the old one, and (4) have started to attend those of the new one. Are you with me? Now, if a person whose party expects him VOLUNTARY to resign does not do so, or there are some circumstances in the House which do not permit the errant Member to be kicked out, the party can be sufficiently UPSET to arrange a RECALL, upon which if successful, INEC is REQUIRED to issue a Certificate to that effect. My point is that we should learn to do things in an orderly fashion in this our democracy, and not resort to jankara self-help. As it is, the Constitution is ENFORCEABLE, but ONLY by members of the relevant House, and NOT by any one else. The Constitution anticipates that the Senate President or the Speaker may defect, hence a member can bring up the issue, and present evidence to sack either of them from the relevant House for defection. The Constitution even allows recall. So my point is that according to the Constitution that we currently operate, Tambuwal, despite his odious defection to many, remains first a Member of the House, and secondly Speaker, until someone brings up a point of order which must be heard, and evidence is entered and positively voted for. Elementary, my dear compatriots. And there you have it, as I rest my case. Bolaji Aluko Esquare, SAM PS1: This also applies to Ekiti State House of Assembly....for the defections there. PS2: If the House votes to kick you out without sufficient evidence adduced, the Courts are there to RESTORE your position.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 18:25:04 +0000
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