The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has faulted the national assembly for endorsing by voice vote the state of emergency imposed on Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking on Sunday on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, the NBA president, Mr Afam Osigwe, criticised the lawmakers for deciding such a critical matter through a voice vote, arguing that it fell short of constitutional requirements.
“The constitution has said that the national assembly shall by two-thirds majority ratify it. It means that for you to ensure that the constitutional provision has been adhered to you must indicate the number of persons who attended the sittings and the number of persons who voted for or against or who abstained from voting,” he said.
“So you can’t clear that by a voice vote. So, a voice vote falls short of the Constitutional requirement because, by a voice vote, you are unable to know whether you have met the Constitutional threshold for ratification.
“So the use of voice vote in both chambers also underscores the unconstitutionality of the whole action. So even that ‘ratification’ by the national assembly does not meet the constitutional requirement, and it is in itself unconstitutional,” he said.
Osigwe’s reaction came as the senator representing Bayelsa West, Mr Seriake Dickson and his counterpart in the Federal Capital Territory, Mrs Ireti Kingibe, renewed the agitation for the reversal of the president’s proclamation of emergency rule in the state.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had last Tuesday declared a state of emergency in the south-south state, suspending its governor Mr Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu and the state assembly members.
