• CSO asks Yari, others to challenge amendment in court
Barely two weeks after the 10th Senate faced an impeachment scare, the chamber, yesterday, amended its standing rule, barring first-term lawmakers from seeking election as Senate President or Deputy Senate President.
Adopting a motion sponsored by Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate amended Section Three of its standing rule, stating, specifically, that to vie for the positions, a senator must have spent one term or four years in the upper legislative chamber.
However, the 1999 Constitution as amended in Section 50(1) simply provides: “There shall be a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by members of that House from among themselves.”
Recall that a former Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari, had the second highest votes of 46 against current Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who polled 63 votes.
The contest was described as the most competitive in the history of electing Senate Presidents.
Three weeks ago, the office of the Senate President had raised an alarm over alleged plot to remove Akpabio from office.
Meanwhile, reacting to the amendment, Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), in a statement, said: “The amendments are unconstitutional and ultra vires, because Section 42(1) of the Constitution states clearly that policies of government ought not to be made in such a way that a certain category of citizens will be disabled from participating or benefitting.”
It urged the affected lawmakers to challenge the decision in court.
THEGUARDIAN
