By Onyedika Agbedo

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AGAINST the backdrop of the suspension of former Senate majority leader, Ali Ndume last Wednesday by the Senate for six months over allegations that he wrongly accused the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Senator Dino Melaye, opinions are sharply divided among lawyers on the legality of the action.
Speaking on the issue, Yusuf Ali (SAN), told Sunday Sun that members of the legislature are bound by their own rules, which ought to be obeyed by every member.
He said: “If for example, a member of the legislative house runs amok and breaches the rules of the house, should he just be allowed to go unpunished because his people will suffer? So, you have to look at every issue holistically. While you have to look at the fate of his constituency, you must also look at the institutions where these individuals are operating. If the act of a member will bring the entire institution to disrepute and public odium, the institution has to be protected, because if the institution does not exist, you cannot talk about representation. That is why countries have the right to prosecute persons who commit treasonable felony. You cannot say that because his family will miss him leave an individual who wants to overthrow a government to go unpunished. If the institution does not exist, how do you talk about representation in the institution? So, institutions have right to punish persons who commit wrong in line with their rules. Of course, their family will suffer but if you go beyond the rules, you have to bear the consequences. That is the context in which I look at the matter.”
Ali stressed that, “so long as a member has breached the rules of the Senate, whatever punishment is allowed under the Senate rules should be meted to the person. If the person feels that the institution has acted outside of its powers, let him go and challenge it in the court. That is the essence of democracy.”
Constitutional and human rights lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), also said the Nigerian Senate has powers to discipline any errant Senator as well as other citizens.
Ozekhome, who spoke on a television programme which was monitored by Sunday Sun, said: “The Senate has the power, the mechanism to discipline erring members under their rule. The law is volenti non fit injuria. You cannot complain when you have subjected yourself to a system that the system is too draconian on you. When you have been given adequate fair hearing you can be disciplined.”
He also noted that the constitution does not state how the National Assembly should discipline its members, stressing that the rules of the Assembly clearly stipulates how it disciplines its erring members.
Frank Agbedo, a lawyer and president of the Global Centre for Defence of Human Rights, Lagos, also corroborated the view that suspending a legislator for breaching the rules of a legislative house is in order. “It is within the powers of the Senate or House of Representatives to mete out appropriate punishment to any member who has breached its rules, which includes suspension. So, as long as that member is in the Senate of the House of Representatives, he is bound by the rules of the institution. So, the suspension is in order. However, under the constitution, the constituency of a suspended lawmaker has the right to challenge the suspension in court on the basis of the denial of their right to representation,” he noted.
But human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has declared that the decision of the Senate in suspending was illegal.
Falana, who noted that the court has made definitive judicial pronouncements on the issue, maintained that “no legislative House in Nigeria can suspend a member for one single day.”
He said: “The purported suspension of Senator Ali Ndume is the height of the serial illegality in the Senate. In Hon. Dino Melaye & Ors v House of Representatives (unreported) the Federal High Court declared the indefinite suspension of the plaintiffs as illegal and unconstitutional on the ground that a legislator could not be suspended for more than 14 days.
“But in House of Assembly v Hon Danna, the Court of Appeal held that a legislative house in Nigeria is not competent to suspend a member even for a single day as it is a violation of the democratic rights of members of his/her constituency,” Falana said.
Jiti Ogunye, a lawyer, public interest attorney and legal commentator, shares the same view with Falana on the matter.
As the debate continues, it remains to be seen whether Ndume or his constituency will test the legality of the Senate’s decision in the courts.