From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate has rescinded its earlier decision on amendments made to its Senate Standing Orders over constitutional breaches relating to the inauguration of senators-elect and election of presiding officers of the chamber.
Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, moved the motion for the rescission and recommittal of the affected provisions during plenary yesterday.
Bamidele said: “The Senate accordingly resolves to rescind its earlier decisions relating to the amendments made to Order 2(2) and Order 3(1) of the Senate Standing Orders, 2026.”
He explained that the Senate observed that provisions introduced on May 5, may give rise to constitutional inconsistencies and unintended tensions with the Constitution.
He cited Section 52 of the 1999 Constitution, noting that senators-elect could participate in the election of presiding officers before taking their oaths.
“In other words, Mr. President and distinguished colleagues, election of the officers will have to take place, as it had always been, before the swearing-in of senators,” he said.
The reversed Order 3(1) had provided that, “A Senator-elect shall not participate in any proceedings of the Senate, including voting for the election of the President and Deputy President of the Senate, unless and until he has taken the Oaths prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
However, senators are traditionally sworn in after electing presiding officers under the supervision of the Clerk of the National Assembly, in line with Section 52 of the Constitution.
Responding, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said: “This is a very straightforward motion. It is just for us to go in conformity with the Constitution. We don’t need any debate on this.”
Following the adoption of the motion, Adams Oshiomhole cautioned against rushing legislative amendments without wider consultation.
“I believe the average age in this Senate is over 40, so we don’t have an excuse for youthful exuberance.
“So, when we are making a law, we should accommodate diverse views. That way, what one person forgot, the other person will remember,” he said, adding that future amendments should be subjected to debate before passage.
Reacting, Bamidele faulted the drama that trailed the earlier amendment process where Oshiomhole and Akpabio clashed over the amendment process, saying lawmakers with objections should channel them through substantive motions.
“We cannot allow this kind of drama to go on in the Senate. We must put a stop to it. This drama must stop because it is not helping the image of this institution. This is the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
The amendment also changed the eligibility of senators to contest election as presiding officers to now state: “Order 3(3), a Senator shall not be eligible to contest as a Presiding Officer in an election unless he has been elected and served as a Senator for at least two terms of eight years, one term of which shall immediately precede such election.”
Other approved amendments affected sitting hours, committee representation across geopolitical zones, suspension procedures and the creation of committees on Livestock Development, Reparations and Repatriations, and regional development commissions.
