…To Report Judge to National Judicial Council

The National Assembly unanimously resolved on Wednesday to appeal the judgement of Federal High Court, Umuahia, nullifying section 84(12) of the Electoral Act.

Both houses took the decision in plenary after a thorough debate of the judgement. The House of Representatives took a further step resolving to report Justice Evelyn Anyadike to National Judicial Council.

Justice Evelyn Anyadike of a Federal High Court, sitting in Umuahia, Abia State, had declared Section 84(12) as “unconstitutional, invalid, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever and cannot stand as it is in violation of the clear provisions of the Constitution.”

In separate resolutions on Wednesday at the two chambers of the National Assembly, the lawmakers described the ruling as an affront on the functions and powers of the legislature.

In a motion titled: “Urgent need to appeal judgement of the Federal High Court Umuahia on suit no.: FHC/UM/CS/26/2022 on Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act, 2022″, the Senate on Wednesday resolved to appeal the judgement of the Federal High court.

The motion was sponsored by Senator George Sekibo (Rivers East) and co-sponsored by 80 other Senators coming under order 42 of the Senate Standing Orders on Personal Explanation.

Citing Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Sekibo stated that the National Assembly is empowered by virtue of its provisions to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of Nigeria.

He added that Section 228 lists such functions to include making laws to ensure internal democracy within political parties.
The section provides in part that, “the National Assembly may by law provide guidelines and rules to ensure internal democracy within political parties, including making laws for the conduct of party primaries, party congresses and party conventions; and the conferment on the Independent National Electoral Commission of powers as may appear to the National Assembly to be necessary or desirable for the purpose of enabling the Commission more effectively to ensure that political parties observe the practices of internal democracy, including the fair and transparent conduct of party primaries, party congresses and party conventions.”

He argued further that the provisions of Section 318 of the 1999 Constitution clearly define who a public servant is, without including political appointees.

Also, the House of Representatives resolved to appeal the judgement and have it upturned.
Challenging the AGF to allow the National Assembly to exercise its right to appeal the case, the House resolved to report Justice Anyadike to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for nullifying the provisions of Section 84(12).

Members of the House, criticised the judiciary and the executive for usurping the powers of the legislature, stating that only the parliament and not a presidential appointee can amend the law.

The Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, described his embarrassment when he said he got to know about the case on the media. He said he discovered that the chamber was not served any notice, since it was not a party to the suit.

The Speaker stated that the parliament must appeal the judgement and ensure that it was set aside. According to him, it is a mistake and the lawmakers must correct it.
The Speaker appealed to the AGF to “tarry” and not take over the responsibility of the National Assembly.