Date: 2014-02-12

President of the Senate, Senator David Mark literarily and legally foreclosed any further attempt by the 11 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Though five out of the eleven PDP Senators at Tuesday's plenary made spirited effort to invoke their order of privilege, yet Mark pointedly told them that all amounts to de-filling all legal glitches and as such they must respect judicial order.

Senator David Mark, relying on Order 53(5) of the Senate Standing Orders 2011 as amended, successively declared their planned defection to APC as null and void and of no effect.

The five senators that raised points of order, citing Order 14, which deal with the privileges of Senators, to announce their defection to the APC were: Senators Bukola Saraki(Kwara Central); Abdullahi Adamu(Nasarawa West), Aisha Alhassan(Taraba North); Magnus Abe(Rivers South East) and Wilson Ake (Rivers West).

Senator Saraki was the first to raise Order 14 on matter of privileges, drawing the attention of the President of the Senate to the letter he jointly submitted in respect of their cross carpeting to the APC and asking him to read the letter.

Responding, Mark referred him to Order 53(5) which reads: "reference shall not be made to any matter on which a judicial decision is pending, in such a way as might in the opinion of the President of the Senate prejudice the interest of the parties thereto."

The Presiding officer further told Saraki, "it cannot be a matter of privilege to you because the matter is in court and no mention should be made of it. Therefore, I rule you out of order."

In a seeming premeditated arrangement, the other four Senators followed Saraki in like manner, raising the same point of order and announcing their defection to the main opposition party. They received the same response from Mark.

But in a desperate attempt to help his prospective party colleagues, the Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume(Benue-APC) raised Order 15 and moving a motion immediately that Mark should read the letter of the defecting Senators.

Order 15 reads: "any Senator may rise at any time to speak upon a matter of privilege suddenly arising, and he shall be prepared to move, without notice, a motion declaring that a contempt or breach of privilege has been committed, or referring the matter to the Committee on Ethics and Privileges, but if the matter is raised in Committee of the Whole Senate, the Chairman shall leave the Chair and report progress."

After citing this Order, Akume went further to say, "this is a legislative house and privileges are guaranteed by law. This is an issue that has dragged on for so long. We cannot stop people from associating. By the power conferred on me as the Minority Leader, I have the right to speak on behalf of my people. Therefore, I move that the Senate President should read the letter now. I so move."

Countering Akume's motion and argument, Mark confronted the APC leader, saying, "tell me your privilege that is being breached and I will rule on it. I do not want to shut you out, but there shall be no further reference made on it."

When the former Benue State governor could not wriggle out of the legal cage, Mark ruled him out of order, declaring that by the power conferred on him by Order 14 which Akume referred to, he was not satisfied by his explanation.

The defecting Senators had earlier gone to court and obtained an interim injunction to stop the President of the Senate from declaring their seats vacant. The court order also stated that the status quo should be maintained by the parties in the suit.

However, negating this legal hurdle, the eleven aggrieved Senators from the ruling party jointly wrote a letter, expressing their defection to the APC and desperately impressed on the President of the Senate to read their letter of defection to the Chamber.

Not willing to violate the rules of the Senate, Mark, in the last three weeks, has tactically tried to manage the situation politically so that the matter would not degenerate and disintegrate the Upper House.

Last week, after one of the closed door sessions, the Senate reportedly implored Mark to seek further legal advice in order to be able to handle the matter without breaching the law. They also resolved that the Senate would look into the matter on Tuesday this week.

Seeing the mood of the Senate, that the defecting Senators were making suspicious movements in the Chamber, Senator Mark quickly called for a closed door session that lasted for twenty minutes to, perhaps address themselves on how to handle the issue without undermining the integrity of the Senate.

Briefing the Press after the session, Spokesman of the Senate, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe said that the Senate earlier resolved at the closed door session that they would continue to maintain the dignity of the Upper Chamber, saying, "that was why everything was done openly without rancour.

On the failure of the President of the Senate to read the letter of the defecting Senators, he pointed out that the hands of Mark were tied by the legal issues surrounding the defection.

Abaribe noted that if Mark should ignore the court order and the rule of the Senate, which forbids mention to be made of any matter of which a judicial decision is pending in court, it would amount to contempt of court.

He further insisted that for the matter of defection to be resolved quickly in the Senate, the disgruntled Senators should either go and withdraw the matter from the court or pressurise the court to expeditiously dispose of the matter.

Abaribe also declared that, as long as the defecting Senators did not meet the conditions for defection, whatever they did or said was null and void.

"If you have to move, there are conditions to meet. If the President of the Senate rules you out of order, it means that whatever you say is null and void. It was the legal opinion, which Mark sought that played out in the Senate today. The defectors got an interim injunction; the main case is still pending. The onus lies with those who went to court to either withdraw the case or ask the court to expeditiously dispose the case. We are not keeping anybody; we are only saying that the rules must be followed," Abaribe explained.