DEPUTY Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, yesterday,
dissociated himself from the amendment of the 8th Senate
Standing Rules, saying he was no longer a senator when the
rules were made.
Senator Ekweremadu spoke through his Special Adviser on
Media, Uche Anichukwu, on a Ray Power Radio morning
programme, tagged: “Political Platform”, where he
responded to questions on the alleged forgery/amendment
of the Senate Standing Rule, 2011.
He washed his hands off the allegation, saying at the time
the said Senate Standing Rule/Order 2015 was made, he
had ceased being the Deputy Senate President and so was
no longer a principal officer to have contributed to the
making of the document in question.
He said the making of a new Rule/Order for a new Senate or
House was entirely the business of the National Assembly
bureaucracy and asked those striving to frame him up to
look elsewhere.
He said: “Let me just explain here that every National
Assembly, that is every Senate or House has its Standing
Rule/Order as every Standing Rule/Order normally has a life
span of four years. So, if you go to the Office of the Clerk to
the National Assembly now, you are likely to find Standing
Rules/Orders of 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and the current
2015.
“From the point of the valedictory session of the 7th Senate
on 4th June, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Distinguished
Senator David Mark and the rest of other members of the
7th Senate ceased to be senators until the 9th of June,
when the 8th Senate was inaugurated; and as usually done,
the new senators received new Standing Rule/Order 2015.
“The making of that 2015 edition of the Senate Rule/Order is
the business of the bureaucracy of the National Assembly.
What the 8th Senate can do, which its predecessors have
sometimes done is to amend as suitable. And the process
of the amendment is spelt out in the that document.
“So, if you say that the current Senate or Ekweremadu or
whoever altered the Standing Rule that brought them to
power, it is just like saying that former President Olusegun
Obasanjo forged the 1999 Constitution upon which he was
inaugurated as a president. You know it wasn’t his making
and the governors that came that time too, it wasn’t their
making. What happens is if Nigerians don’t like what is
contained in the 1999 Constitution, they try to amend it. It’s
the same with the Rules/Orders of the National Assembly.
But you cannot even amend it until you are inaugurated as a
Senator or Member. So, haven been inaugurated, anybody
not comfortable with any part of the Standing Rule/Order
2015 upon which the Senate was inaugurated can follow the
laid down procedure in the Rule within the lifespan of the
Senate.
“So, you can see that what they call an amendment is a new
document with a life of its own. It couldn’t have been done
by any member of the 8th Senate. It is just impossible for it
to have been made by Ekweremadu. I guess it is all politics”
Asked whether his principal did not work behind the scene
to influence the alleged changes in the Senate Rule, Mr
Anichukwu said: “How could he have worked behind the
scene to amend it because from the 4th of June, when the
7thSenate ended, he ceased to be a senator, just like every
other senator.
“You could remember that after the valedictory session on
that day, Ekweremadu and Senator David Mark left without
their usual official cars. That showed they were no longer
senators or occupying their offices in the Senate. So, how
could he have worked from behind the scene? And do not
forget that even the main matter they are contesting is not
Ekweremadu’s eligibility. They claim the old Rule for the 7th
Senate prescribed open ballot in which you mention the
name of the person you want to vote in as the Senate
President or Deputy President of the Senate, while the Clerk
to the National Assembly used the open secret ballot
system in which your name is called, you are given a piece
of paper to write down the name of your preferred candidate
and drop in the box in the full glare of everyone and on live
TV watched all over the world. No one has complained that
the election was rigged. Even Senator Ali Ndume crossed
over to Ekweremadu and gave him a very warm
congratulatory embrace”
He explained further: “There is an important point I want to
make here, how a new Senate or House is inaugurated is
entirely the business of the National Assembly bureaucracy
“Remember that in the 6th Senate, Senator George Akume
ran against Senator David Mark for the position of the
Senate President. You would remember that some people
said no, he was not qualified to run for that office going by
the old Rule because he was a new Senator. But the then
CNA, Mr. Ogunyomi, said no, ‘this is how I want to run it.”
When told that some people, especially from the opposition
APC felt that his principal took a seat that rightly belonged
to the APC, Mr Anichukwu said the seat did not belong to
any political party.
He said: “Going by Section 50 (1) of the 1999 Constitution,
that Office doesn’t belong to anybody or party. It belongs to
Nigerians. That is why APC lawmakers became Speakers in
Plateau and Benue State Assemblies last June even when
the APC was in minority. By the way, are some people trying
to tell Nigerians that if the PDP had won majority in the
National Assembly, which is an independent arm of
government, and head both chambers, the President Buhari
Administration would cease to function? http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/07/senate-rules-ive-no-hand-in-alteration-ekweremadu/

Drama drama drama

@op source pls
Lalasticlala do the needful

Dharniel:
.

See your life

.

Nonsense forger GODs hand will soon catch up with u

Don't worry explaining, we know what politicians can do and the only thing they cant do is keep to promise.

NoT my problem.

Cheap defense!

Let's believe for a second that you were not part of the forgery.

However, you are accepting that the rule was indeed fraudulently changed and there is no doubt you are a beneficiary of such criminal action.

Since you have benefited from criminality, your position can no longer be tenable. In fact, where there is moral value, you should just resign having known that you became the DSP through a forged rule. That is what people of integrity do.

goldman777:
Nonsense forger GODs hand will soon catch up with u

even as clear as the explanation is, you still have the ignorance to make this kind of statement? I wonder where this country is heading to if the future leaders will be reasoning this way.

Jacksparrow0712:
Drama drama drama
@op source pls Lalasticlala do the needful

See your life

E dey God hand.

Copycat

Dharniel:


E dey God hand.

The questions are, what number of members of NA can amend the standing order? Did the number constituted to the amendment? If yes, no problem. If not, then there is a problem.

PassingShot:
Cheap defense!

Let's believe for a second that you were not part of the forgery.

However, you are accepting that the rule was indeed fraudulently changed and there is no doubt you are a beneficiary of such criminal action.

Since you have benefited from criminality, your position can no longer be tenable. In fact, where there is moral value, you should just resign having known that you became the DSP through a forged rule. That is what people of integrity do.

So its actually forged? this man is a gonner

PassingShot:
Cheap defense!

Let's believe for a second that you were not part of the forgery.

However, you are accepting that the rule was indeed fraudulently changed and there is no doubt you are a beneficiary of such criminal action.

Since you have benefited from criminality, your position can no longer be tenable. In fact, where there is moral value, you should just resign having known that you became the DSP through a forged rule. That is what people of integrity do.

if it is accepted that it is the duty of the bureaucracy to enact the Senate rules, then there is nothing fraudulent in it because it is a role legally assigned to them. But if your position that the "election/position of the deputy Senate leader is not tenable" is anything to go by, it means that the entire Senate leaders should vacate their seat because it is the same debate rule that binds them all.

APC and fight mix well well

Following

Nnnnnnnnn

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