IMPEACHMENT: Senators head to court

Two senators in the camp of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, have approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking a restraining order against any illegal or unlawful removal of the Senate President from office.

Senators Rafiu Adebayo (PDP, Kwara South) and Isa Misau (PDP, Bauchi Central) are asking the court to restrain the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Department of State Services (DSS) from supporting any effort to sack Senator Saraki through means other than that provided for under Section 50(2)(c ) of the Constitution.

The suit was filed by a team of lawyers including a former AGF, Kanu Agabi (SAN) and Mahmud Magaji (SAN)
According to the plaintiffs, going by recent occurrences and utterances by some leaders of a faction of All Progressives Congress (APC) they were convinced of plots to force Saraki off the Senate President’s seat by means other than that provided in Section 50(2)(c ) of the Constitution.

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Section 50(2) provides: “The President or Deputy President of the Senate or the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives shall vacate his office…. (c) if he is removed from office by a resolution of the Senate or of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of the members of that House.”

The suit lists as defendants, the Senate, the Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawal (Senate Leader), Senator Bala Ibn Nallah (Deputy Senate Leader), Senator Emma Buacha (Deputy Minority Leader), Clerk of the Senate, Deputy Clerk of the Senate, Attorney General of the Federation, Inspector General of Police and Department of State Services, DSS.

In a supporting affidavit, Misau said there are evidences of threat of constitutional breach which require the court to intervene by restraining the defendants from resorting to unconstitutional means to actualise their alleged threat and plot to unseat the Senate President following his defection to the PDP.

The plaintiffs asked the court to among other things to make an order restraining the 9th, 10th and 11th defendants, either by themselves, agents, servants, privies by whatsoever name so called from enforcing any act of the 1st, 3rd to 8th defendants purporting to have removed the 2nd defendant from office without such act being in compliance with the provisions of Sections 50(2) of the Constitution of the Fedora! Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

And a declaration that the President of the Senate cannot be said to have vacated his office by virtue of Section 50(2)(c) of the Constitution when he has not been removed from office by the votes of not less than two-third majority of the members of the Senate.

 

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