Crisis Hits House Of Reps As 11 APC Lawmakers Drag Speaker, Clerk To Court

Eleven lawmakers have sued Speaker Yakubu Dogara, the House and its Clerk, Sani Omolori, before an Abuja High Court seeking to quash new amendments to the Standing Orders of the House.

In the summons written by their lawyer, Ahmed Bello Mahmud and dated December 14, 2015, the 11 lawmakers, led by Aliyu Sani Madaki (APC, Kano), the court to declare the new Standing Orders as null and void as well as unconsti­tutional as they contravene the Constitution.

Other lawmakers involved in the suit are Mohammed Musa Soba (APC, Kaduna); Yusuf Bala Ikara (APC, Kaduna); Abubakar Lado Suleja (APC, Niger) and Lawal Yahaya Gu­mau (APC, Bauchi); Rotimi Agunsoye (APC, Lagos); Aminu Ibrahim Malle (APC, Taraba); Sunday Adepoju (APC, Oyo); Ahmed Babba Kaita (APC, Katsina); Philip Shuaibu (APC, Edo); Abubakar Chika Adamu (APC, Niger).

The House had on October 8, 2015 adopted the report of its ad-hoc committee to review the House Standing Orders, 2011, in which the Speaker is vested with the powers to suspend any member that approaches the mace with whatever intent.

The new Standing Orders also provide that the Speaker can suspend a member for 30 plenary days for failing to obey the presiding officer’s directive for such a lawmaker to assume his seat during plenary. Some lawmakers have privately com­plained over the new rules be­ing restrictive and conceding much power to the Speaker.

The lawmakers prayed the court to restrain Dogara, the House or any of its agents from exercising “the purported amendments” vested on them in the new rules pending the deter­mination of the matter.

They also prayed the court to declare as “repressive, sus­ceptible to abuse and breaches” of their constitutional rights the powers granted Dogara to pres­ent any proposal for the suspen­sion of any member.

In his reaction, Chairman House Committee on Me­dia and Publicity, Abdulrazak Namdas, said it would be wrong to comment on a matter in court.

He said, “Although I have not seen the court papers, but since the matter is in court, it will amount to contempt of court for me to say anything. All I can say is that the court should be allowed to do its work and determine the matter”.