Court Ruling On Electoral Act Divides Senators [VIDEO]

Senators were apparently divided on Tuesday over a call for the Senate to debate a Federal High Court ruling that declared Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act as illegal.

Trouble started when Senator George Sekibo from Rivers State, while relying on Orders 10 and 11 of the Senate Standing Rules, led his colleagues through the various functions of the three arms of government.

He argued that the ruling by the Court, which nullified the action of the National Assembly was a bad precedent that must not be allowed to stand.

He said if allowed to stand, future actions of the Parliament would be challenged in Courts by interested parties.

Sekibo urged his colleagues to suspend other legislative activities earmarked for the sitting and debate the issue.

He said: “This issue us very important. Those who went to court to challenge our action, didn’t include us as an interested party. We were not even aware that a matter was even in court.

“Suddenly, we were told that a judgment was given and the Federal Government immediately gazetted it.

“This is dangerous and we need to take a position immediately. This is important to guide against such occurrences.”

The debate on the matter was however deferred to Wednesday by the Senate following divergent views on the said ruling.