The law and the Speaker and politics

During Nigerian's recent history, politicians cross carpeting, moving from one political party to another while elected into parliament on another's political party platform was seen and regarded as the origins of the political crisis which rocked the western region and engined a larger configuration which enveloped the entire nation in 1960s.

Given this background and history, the framers of our 1999 constitution sought to learn from our past and inserted a clause in the constitution that any parliamentarian who jumped ship from their sponsoring political party would lose their seat in parliament. If you believe that your constituents support your change of political allegiance you will be reelected. However, the constitution recognised that political parties are human and developing organs inserted an exemption to the above provision. That exemption is that you are able to retain your parliamentary seat if your political party is spit.

If you are an office holder in parliament and you hold that office due to election into that body and by your action lose your seat, then you also lose that office. However, each parliament while accepting the constitutional provision, set rules on how to actualise this constitutional provision. The Speaker upon notification by INEC that a member of the House has switched political parties, will by obligation of the constitution declare the seat of the member vacant. INEC will then conduct new elections for the vacant seat.

The House of Representatives, has principal officers including the House Leader and the Majority whip. In the matter of the Speaker, on the face of the constitution, decamped to another party his seat is vacate but the procedural method of declaring a seat vacant is absent as the decamping Speaker is not about to declare his seat vacant. In the instance, the Leader of the House and or the Majority Whip moves a motion in the House to remove the Speaker. A  simple majority vote sacks the Speaker and appoints or elevates the deputy Speaker to the Speaker's position.In this case the new Speaker declares the parliamentary seat of the former Speaker vacant.

The courts have inherent powers to oversee this process and any party including the decamping member can make an application to the court for their seats not to be declared vacant on the singular ground that his decampment was due to a spit in his party.

The question for the court as being currently argued is that a party is not a unitary organ but a federation or collectives and therefore while there not be a spit in the national party, there has been a spit in the local collective. This is a novel idea and not capable of rigorous examination. The Constitution in its words, intent and the mischief it was seeking to prevent, negates this proposition. The only destination any interpretation of this clause of the constitution will lead is that a local qalam does not amount to a party spit. In any event, the managers of political parties is INEC and a certification from INEC ought determine status of party.

Of course the working assumption one has to make is that members of this House are not honourable men and women and will attempt to circumvent the constitution.

Why are the principle officers of the House not moving to remove the current Speaker from his position. If the current Speaker had any iota of honour why not resign.

Finally, of course our national pastime is impatience, hence the drama at the House the other day. The Police acted in haste and outside their powers in seeking to determine the position of the Speaker. The 1960's is within the life time of all concerned and shame on their lack of duty to both the constitution and people of Nigeria.