The Sixth Senate: An overview

Posted by admin Legislature, Senate Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

WHEN the history of the Sixth Senate is written, the two important issues that would not escape any observer are the tranquility and stability that prevailed in the last four years and the seeming integrity that the leadership of Senator David Bonaventure Alechenu Mark conferred on the Senate. Quite unlike the Fourth and Fifth Senate when constant change in the leadership of the Senate cast a pall of negative perception among Nigerians about the Senate as an institution.

So when Mark the President of the Senate in an election that saw him pitched against his colleague from the same state, Senator George Akume, emerged the President of the Senate, not a few watchers of the legislature heaved a sigh of relief that for once, the Senate may have a new lease of life. Four years after and considering what the Senate went through, those who invested their hopes in David Mark to stabilize the leadership of the Senate did not do so in vain.

But with his experience and especially antecedents in the Fourth and Fifth Senate, Mark’s leadership could not have been otherwise. For a man whose several years in public office has been honed in the infamous art of coup planning and execution, David Mark must have been very prepared for the challenge of leading the legislature which, to a very large extent is made up of very disparate members whose interests sometimes run at cross purposes. It is said that even if he did not actively participate in the removal of previous Presidents of the Senate, Mark had active knowledge of the reasons for their removal and sometimes provided the necessary logistical support for the actualization of the plots. In fact, some watchers of the Senate allege that he was responsible for the placement of the so called ‘Banana peels’ that proved to be the Achilles heels of many Senate Presidents.

With the stability in the Senate leadership, the Senate was able to make some legislative progress even though the perception from a vast majority of Nigerians still remain that the Senate, nay, the National Assembly has not done enough to advance the well being of the generality of Nigerians. But with the benefit of hindsight, the negative perception of the Senate is not necessarily borne out of a true reflection of the performance of the Senate as an institution if placed on a scale, but borne out of hard feeling that Nigerians ought to do better if senators were doing their legislative duties with the same gusto and zeal as they live their lives with ostentation.

Despite the generally negative perception of the Senate, the deft manner with which the Senate was able to navigate the potentially catastrophic political landmine in the country in its trying moments brought a soothing relief to an anxious nation. It would be recalled that when the late President Umaru Yar’Adua hurriedly left the country due to his failing health without handing over to his vice as constitutionally required, the country was left rudderless and directionless so much so that even though there was a Vice President in place, he was incapacitated because he did not have the constitutional authority to exercise the mandate of his joint ticket with the President

In a move that was as novel as it was creative, the David Mark led Senate provided the leadership expected of a Senate of a federation, by invoking the Doctrine of Necessity to empower then Vice president Goodluck Jonathan to assume the full powers of an Acting President. It was a legislative move that not only calmed anxious nerves but also provided a reassurance that there were still Nigerians who could rise above ethnic and religious sentiments to provide direction for the country.

Just like the Doctrine of Necessity was a refreshing landmark in the legislative achievement of the Sixth Senate, the successful amendment of the 1999 constitution after several failed attempts by both the Fourth and Fifth Senate has in no small way upped the rating of the Sixth Senate.

And for most Nigerians, who had watched in dismay how the country’s hard earned resources were wasted in futile attempts to amend the constitution in the past, the successful amendment of the constitution was greeted with euphoria.

But the euphoria that greeted first alteration of the 1999 constitution did not last long as sundry controversy began to dog the process. For many Nigerians, the process of the amendment was incomplete without subjecting it to a presidential assent as other bills. But the chairman of the senate committee on the review of the constitution who is also the deputy president of the senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu was adamant in his refusal to entertain that contemplation.

According to him, the section of the 1999 constitution which empowers the national Assembly to amend it does not envisage that the president would have to assent to the amendment before they come into effect. His argument is that since members of the national and state legislatures are direct representatives of the over one hundred and fifty million Nigerians who are the custodians of the sovereignty, there was not need for an individual to confer sovereignty on an activity that was already blessed by the people.

Not satisfied with the position of the National Assembly, human rights lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba sought a judicial interpretation at a Lagos High Court to determine the propriety of the position adopted by the national assembly on the amendment to the 1999 constitution. He had argued that the president’s assent to the amendment of the constitution was sacrosanct for it to come into effect unless such assent was over ruled through a veto by two thirds of members of the national assembly.

According to him, by the provisions of section 58 of the 1999 constitution, any act of the national assembly that is not assented to by the president, or a veto by the president over ridden by the National Assembly remains null and void. He urged the court to declare that the exclusion of the National Assembly of the presidential assent rendered the amendment null and void.

As the case progressed in court, the National Assembly was restrained by the court to revert to the status quo ante pending the determination of the substantive suit by Olisa Agbakoba challenging the amendment. Expectedly, the order of the court was not only rejected by the National Assembly which gave its own interpretation of what constituted the Status Quo Ante in the instant case, but went ahead to accuse the judiciary of trying to interfere with the constitutional duties of the legislature.

Addressing Senate correspondent after the court injunction, the deputy president of the senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who also doubled as the chairman of the Constitution review committee, reiterated the unwavering commitment of the legislature to progress with its constitutional duties without allowing the declarative pronouncement from the bench to interfere with it.

According to him, since the amendment had been completed and gazetted, the court order relates to only the interpretation being sought as to whether a presidential assent is needed before constitutional amendments would come into effect.

While the credible leadership provided by the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega played a significant role in ensuring that the last elections were generally credible and held as such nationally and internationally, the institutional strengthening given to the commission by the senate through the amendment to the electoral act, formed the bedrock for Nigeria’s freest election in a very long while.

After his appointment and confirmation by the senate, Professor Attahiru Jega sought the strengthening of the electoral institution through the amendment of the Electoral Act 2010 to allow for more time at the disposal of the INEC for the compilation of a new register which he said was sine qua non to the conduct of a free, fair and credible elections. Despite the huge amount of money involved in the conduct of such exercise, the senate bent over backward to accommodate Jega and his request for N86billion for the conduct of the elections.

Even when the registration exercise ran into a hitch, the senate was magnanimous to amend the constitution to allow for enough time for the commission to meet its obligation. It was the sacrifice made by the senate that contributed in no small measure to the success of the april elections.

The passage of the Freedom of Information Bill, which had suffered several setbacks in the past as well as the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON bill whose primary mandate is to buy off toxic bank assets to create sability in the banking sector and strengthen the financial base of the nation have all placed the senate above average in the conduct of its legislative business in the sixth senate of the federation.

These were in addition to several other bills like the National Grazing Reserves(establishment& development) Bill,2008, the National Poverty Eradication Commissild Destitution in Nigeria; the Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYEPADEC) Bill; the Prohibit and Punish Public Nudity, Sexual Intimidation and Other Related Offences in Nigeria Bill; the Chartered Institute of Capital Market Registrars Bill to Regulate and Control the Practice of Share Registration; Public Records & Information Bill; and the protection of personal privacy Bill.

-Vanguardwp_posts

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Posted by admin on Jun 7 2011. Filed under Legislature, Senate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry