Rivers: NBA declares stand on voice vote by National Assembly

By Paul Dada

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), says it was wrong for the members of the two chambers of the National Assembly to have endorsed President Tinubu’s proclamation of the State of Emergency in Rivers State through voice vote.

Expressing this view on Sunday during an interview with Channels Television was  the NBA President,  Afam Osigwe, SAN.

He said, “The Constitution has said that the National Assembly shall by two-thirds majority ratify it. It means that for you to ensure that the Constitutional provision has been adhered to, you must indicate the number of persons who attended the sittings and the number of persons who voted for or against or who abstained from voting.

“So you can’t clear that by a voice vote. So, a voice vote falls short of the Constitutional requirement because, by a voice vote, you are unable to know whether you have met the Constitutional threshold for ratification.

“So the use of voice vote in both chambers also underscores the unconstitutionality of the whole action. So even that ‘ratification’ by the National Assembly does not meet the Constitutional requirement, and it is in itself unconstitutional.”