Saraki kicks as Mark rejects defection letter

Citing a court order, Senate President David Mark may have declined to accept the defecting 11 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senators’ letter.

At a closed door session of the Senate yesterday, Mark reportedly said he would not accept the letter until the injunction restraining him and House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal is vacated.

He was also said to have quoted Order 53(5) of the Senate Standing Orders, which stipulates that the Senate must obey court orders.

But leader of the defecting Senators Bukola Saraki was said to have sought to invoke Order 14, which deals with Privileges, to read the letter, if Mark’s “lands are tied”. His request was refused.

The other senators are Shaaba Lafiagi (Kwara North), Mohammed Ndume (Borno South), Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central), Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West), Magnus Abe (Rivers South East), Wilson Ake (Rivers West), Bindo Jubrilla (Adamawa North), Abdullahi Gobir (Sokoto East) and Alhassan Aisha Jummai (Taraba North).

It was gathered that Mark opened up for the first time, at the Executive Session, on the controversy trailing the senators’ defection.

Mark, it was learnt allowed exhaustive debate on the propriety of reading the letter on the floor of the Senate.

Members also spoke on the implications of Section 68(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution on the vacation of a seat by a defecting Senator.

A Senator from the Northwest told The Nation. “The President of the Senate said as long as he remains in charge, he will abide by the court injunction.

“He told us that the affected Senators went to court seeking an order to restrain him and the Speaker of the House of Representatives from declaring their seats vacant.

“He said since the court gave an injunction to maintain the status quo, the order applies to defection and its aftermath, which borders on the declaration of any Senator’s seat vacant.

“Mark insisted on the larger interpretation of the court injunction instead of an isolated one. He said the day the court rules otherwise, he will allow due process to take its course.”

A high-ranking Senator from the Southeast said: “The Senate President also cited Order 53(5) of the Senate Standing Orders to buttress his argument. He said since there had been precedents in the Senate, he would not make this case an exemption.

“He said once a case is in court, the Senate cannot dabble in the matter. He then rolled out a long list of cases in court on which the Senate had stayed action.”

“The Order 53(5) says: ‘Reference shall not be made to any matter on which a judicial decision is pending in such a way as might in the opinion of the President of the Senate prejudice the interest of parties thereto.’ Most Senators, especially those from the PDP concurred with Mark.”

A Senator from the Southsouth said PDP Senators saw Mark as being lenient and protective of the 11 Senators because “we were determined to pressurise him to declare their seats vacant in line with Section 68(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution”.

He said: “At a point, some of us thought Mark was protecting the 11 Senators who should automatically vacate their seats once they officially pitched tent with the All Progressives Congress (APC). We accused the Senate President of favouring the Senators.

“But Mark told us that no military commander would want to lose any member of his troops until such a person chooses to go astray. He said he owes it a duty to be fair and just to all Senators irrespective of political leanings because they are all members of a family.

“What Mark is trying to do to is to give the 11 Senators a long rope to pull under the ambit of the law before taking any drastic action.”

The Saraki led defecting Senators replied that Order 53(5) only applies to the Rules of Debate in the Senate and not the conduct of the Senate.

Their letter, they argued, was not debatable before the Senate.

Saraki urged Mark to direct the Clerk of the Senate to read the letter, saying that would not amount to violation of either the court injunction or Order 53(5).

He said he should be allowed to invoke Order 14 (a) on Privileges to read the letter in the Senate.

Order 14(a-b) says: “Privileges are the rights enjoyed by the Senate collectively and by the members of the Senate individually conferred by the Legislative Houses(Powers and Privileges) Act CAP 208 Laws of the Federation 1990 and other statutes, or by practice, precedent, usage and custom.

“Whenever a matter of privilege arises, it shall be taken up immediately.”

Mark was said to have stood his ground that he would neither allow the Clerk nor Saraki to read the letter because there is a case in court.

A Senator from the APC said: “I think there was a gross misinterpretation of the court injunction and Order 53(5) by the President of the Senate. The same scenario was obtainable in the House of Representatives and Speaker Aminu Tambuwal allowed members to defect to APC.

“Why is the Senate being holier than thou? Why are we more Catholic than the Pope in the Senate? I suspect a hidden agenda by PDP and a likely ambush of the 11 Senators for some reasons. I hope the President of the Senate will watch his back well.”

A Senator from the Northeast said: “We suspect foul play because the 11 Senators have been trapped to their seats within the PDP end of the Chamber. It is a case of you have rights but we won’t allow you to exercise these rights.”

On the way out, a Senator from the Northcentral said: “Both APC and PDP have receded to their various camps to explore ways out of the controversy on the letter.

“We are now on break to allow APC Senators to go for membership registration. I know before we come back, tempers would have cooled down and they will allow us to defect to the party of our choice.

“We are also considering other options at APC level. We will unfold these options after consultations with our party.”