Electoral Act: Senate meete behind closed door

 

Electoral Act: Senate meete behind closed door

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Written by Ayodele Adesanmi, Abuja Wednesday, 10 November 2010

Over an attempt  to make members of the National Assembly automatic members of the National  Executive Committee of their political parties in the Electoral Act,  the Senate  met  under a closed door for almost two hours.
As soon as the bill was introduced and members were shouting, they resorted to meeting under a closed door.
Before the closed door meeting,  the  Chief Whip, Senator Kanti Bello,  raised a point of order when the Leader of the Senate, Teslim Folarin, announced the presentation of the bill.
Senator  Bello, relying on  Order 77(2) of the Standing Rules of the Senate, said the bill should not be read, but should be put off until the rules were followed.
Order 77(2) stipulates that  “Any Senator who wishes to move for leave to bring a bill shall give notice of provisions proposed to be embodied in the bill to the Clerk, who shall cause them to be published in two successive issues of the Official Gazette of National Assembly Journal and shall send a copy of the first of such issues to every Senator.”
It was learnt that  Senate President and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review and 43 others did not make the bill available to senators before the presentation.
The contending sections states that  Subsections (b)(iii, v, and vi) provided that “Presiding Officers of the National Assembly who are members of the party; Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of Standing Committees who are members of the party in the Senate and Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of Standing Committees who are members of the party in the House of Representatives,” should be members of the NEC of political parties.