New Telegraph

Edo Assembly crisis: You can’t usurp court’s power, PDP tells Malami

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami cannot usurp the power of the court by ordering the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to provide security to memberselect of Edo State House of Assembly.

 

The party said the only powers granted to the AGF by the Constitution is nolle prosequi PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, at a press conference, said the directive by Malami to the IGP to provide security for members-elect for inauguration, is unconstitutionality null and void.

 

Ologbondiyan stated that nothing in sections 90, 91, 101 and 104 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) cited by the Attorney General, empowers him to declare the people members-elect of any House of Assembly, without any electoral mandate.

 

He reminded him that the said members-elect had been absent for 180 days “during which they abandoned their mandate and for which their seats were declared vacant in line with the rules of the legislature and the laws of the federation.

 

“It is trite in law that with their seats declared vacant by the House, they have consequently lost their memberships and respective mandates.” The PDP spokesperson drew Malami’s attention to the fact that the Edo State House of Assembly had written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh elections into the vacant seats in line with the provisions of our constitution and the Electoral Act.

 

 

Also, Ologbondiyan told the AGF that his order to the IGP is sub-justice, arguing that the request to conduct fresh elections to fill the vacant seats is still pending in court in Edo State. He called on Malami to check the Constitution “if any sections warrant him to take any action whatsoever which compromise, derogate or infringe the powers donated to any court in Nigeria apart from the powers of nolle prosequi of his office.”

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