The Senator-elect Kano South Senatorial District, Kawu Sumaila, on Monday said that Lawmakers-elect will resist any attempt by external forces to impose Presiding Officers on the 10th National Assembly.
He said this when he spoke with the Senate Press Corps ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly.
The former Senior Special Assistant to the President claimed that some desperate politicians are planning to impose Presiding Officers on Lawmakers-elect, adding that it will be resisted.
According Sumalia: “Available information reveals that some desperate politicians are planning to use undemocratic means to impose Lawmakers-elect of their choice to become Presiding Officers against the wishes of the majority.
“This move is undemocratic, unacceptable and dangerous to our democracy as well as the nation as a whole.”
He criticised the All Progressives Congress for micro-zoning the Presiding Officers of the National Assembly, saying the decision is a against the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria which mandates Lawmakers-elect to elect their Presiding Officers internally.
Sumaila said: “The constitution is explicit about how the President and Deputy President of the Senate shall be elected.
|For instance, Chapter 2 of the 9th Standing Orders of the Senate 2022 (as amended) stipulates the procedures for selection of Presiding Officers of the Senate.
“Similarly, Section 50(1)a of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) states that: ‘There shall be a President and Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.’
“And Section 50(1)b stipulates that: ‘A Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.’
“It is therefore clear that the election of these Presiding Officers is purely an internal affair that concerns only members of the National Assembly and therefore they should be allowed to decide who among them would occupy the positions in order to avoid repetition of the past mistakes.
“We may all recall the incidences of the 7th and 8th National Assemblies.
“In my view, external interference in the election of the next Presiding Officers of the National Assembly would not only violate the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and Standing Orders of both the Senate and House of Representatives, but would also cause a serious misunderstandings between the Legislative and Executive Arms of government.”
