SENATE President David Mark, yesterday, saved 11Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators, whorecently defected to the All Progressives Congress,APC, from losing their seats

SENATE President David Mark, yesterday, saved 11
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators, who
recently defected to the All Progressives Congress,
APC, from losing their seats by rebuffing moves to
declare their seats vacant as the defection drama
continued in the Senate.
He also halted further debates on the matter until
the courts rule on the issue.

PDP senators led by Senator Ita Enang had sought
for the declaration of the seats of the former PDP
members that dumped the party for APC vacant on
the premise that when a senator leaves the party
platform that gave him the seat unless that party is
factionalised, his seat will become vacant.
Order 14 of Senate standing rule
Senator Enang who came through Order 14 of the
Senate Standing Rule and relying on Section 68
Subsection (1g) of the 1999 Constitution (as
amended) said the defectors having dumped the
party that brought them to the Senate had
automatically lost their membership.
According to him, Section 68 (1) g of the 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic states: “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 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.”
As if it was a decision reached after the Senate
PDP caucus meeting at the residence of the Senate
leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba on Tuesday evening,
the PDP senators chorused as Senator Enang was
making his presentation and unanimously urged
the Senate President to declare the seats of the
affected Senators vacant. However, Senate
President Mark apart from ruling Senator Enang
out of order also stopped further debate on the
matter until the court delivers final judgment on it.
Mark, who relied on the pending suit at the Federal
High Court, said further comments on the matter
was sub-judicial. He told Enang: “You were in the
chamber here, yesterday, (Tuesday) and I did
explain that the matter is in a court of competent
jurisdiction. We all agreed that no reference should
be made in a matter before a competent court of
law. My ruling is that I am not going to be
different because it is a constitutional matter. I
shall not make any more pronouncements on it.
The decision that you ask me to make is not
possible.”
The Senate President’s ruling did not stop the PDP
senators, who appeared ready to battle the
defection issue with the APC. Senator Thomson
Sekibo, who came also under Order 14 of the
Senate Standing Order and Sections 1 and 2 of the
constitution said that Order 53 (5) of the Senate
Standing Rule upon which the Senate President
based his refusal to declare the seats of the
affected senators vacant was inconsistent with
Section 1 of the constitution.
Contending that the Constitution of the country
should be superior to any other law, Senator
Sekibo cited Section 1 (3) of the 1999 Constitution
as amended which states: “If any other law is
inconsistent with the provisions of this
constitution, the constitution shall prevail, and that
other law shall to the extent of the inconsistency
by voided.”
Arguing that in the matter, Order 53 of the Senate
Standing Rule was inconsistent with the section of
the constitution, he urged the Senate president to
discard the order and follow the constitution by
declaring the seats of the affected defectors vacant.
Senator Sekibo maintained that having defected,
the affected Senators lacked the locus standi to
continue to seat in the chamber. But Sekibo’s
position did not move Mark, who told him:
“Senator Sekibo, the subject matter in which you
spoke vigorously is before a court of competent
jurisdiction.” Mark also ignored efforts by Senator
Anthony Omowarare to revisit the issue and
prevent the Senate President from adhering to the
PDP senators’ plea as he said that he was not
going to comment on the matter. Throughout the
debate, the affected senators were cold.