Contrary to the impression given by Chief Ozekhome, suspending a senator for 6 months is not a tea party and no one must give the Senate that impression. With respect to Ndume, did the Senate comply with its own Rules? From the facts in public domain, Ndume raised a matter of privilege under order 15 of the Senate Rules and informed the body that certain online publication accused a senator of not having the degree he claims and that a car in the fleet of a presiding officer had no custom duties paid on it.
By Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa
There is no question that the Senate or House of Representatives can suspend its members if there is reason to do so, but each House must strictly follow its Rules.
Suspension in the Senate is provided for by Order 67. Where a senator is named by the presiding officer for contravening the Rules of the Senate, he would be called to order and asked to take his seat.
If he persists in his breach of the Rules, the Senate president can either direct him to withdraw from the Senate for the rest of the day if his offense is viewed as minor. Where it is considered serious, the Senate president shall put the question on motion being made without debate that such senator be suspended for not more than 14 days.
A senator who is suspended as such is expected to vacate the Senate floor immediately. Where he refuses to withdraw, the Senate president shall inform the Senate of such refusal and that force is necessary to compel the obedience of such senator.
It is ONLY when this happens, that the Senate can suspend such a senator until such suspension is determined by the legislative body.
It must be noted that the Senate included in its rules that nothing shall deprive it of the power of proceeding against any senator according to a resolution of the Senate.
That in itself cannot remove compliance with its Rules as the Rules are made pursuant to section 60 of the 1999 constitution and as such, it becomes an enactment under the provisions of section 318 of the said constitution. It must be complied with when suspending a senator.
Contrary to the impression given by Chief Ozekhome, suspending a senator for 6 months is not a tea party and no one must give the Senate that impression.
With respect to Ndume, did the Senate comply with its own Rules? From the facts in public domain, Ndume raised a matter of privilege under order 15 of the Senate Rules and informed the body that certain online publication accused a senator of not having the degree he claims and that a car in the fleet of a presiding officer had no custom duties paid on it.
The Senate referred the matter to its committee on ethics and privileges. The committee invited Ndume to throw light on the matter of breach of privilege he raised in plenary. He attended and explained his source of information and gave his general opinion on why he raised the matter in plenary.
At the committee’s hearing, no allegation of disorderly behavior was raised against him. In the committee’s report, no such allegation was made against the senator. To that extent, order 67 could not have been invoked against him.
His suspension cannot therefore be said to be based on that order. The report said that he brought the Senate to odium by raising a matter without conducting due diligence to be sure of the correctness of his claims.
For God’s sake, when did it become the duty of a senator to go out of his way to investigate online publications before drawing the attention of the Senate to same? I do not think that he has any obligation to do so.
Was Ndume the accuser of the affected senators? He certainly was not. Was he the publisher of the online publication? Again, he was not. Did he write the article in question? He did not.
How then, did he ridicule the Senate? This can best be left to the imagination of all of us. It can be safely argued that Ndume’s suspension by the Senate was more of a political decision than a legal one.
It must be borne in mind that more than any institution, the Senate has a cardinal duty to operate within the rule of law, being an indispensable element of all democracies; whether electoral, plural or public opinion-driven types of the west.
In spite of my views, I appeal to the Senate to reconsider their decision on Ndume, given the troubled nature of his senatorial district and the need to regularly present updates on progress reports in that region to the Senate and monitor on-going government’s effort on restoration of peace and development in such areas.
I urge Ndume to reach out to his colleagues in order to pursue an amicable political settlement of the impasse for public good.
May God bless Nigeria.
Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa is a legal practitioner and former member of the Nigerian National Assembly who writes from Abuja, Nigeria.
