Strong indications emerged yesterday that the Senate was not disposed to swear in Senator Alphonsus Igbeke based on what it termed “obvious contradictions in his court order and procedures”.
Igbeke had on Tuesday obtained an ex parte order from a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, directing the Senate, President, David Mark, to swear him in as the senator to represent Anambra North.
But sources quoting a position paper in the Senate disclosed that the upper chamber was hamstrung in doing so at least for now.
Specifically, the position is that the Senate, having not been served with proceedings of the court leading to the ex parte order, it must tread with extreme caution. Besides, the leadership of the Senate was of the opinion that preponderance of legal opinion on the matter did not favour it to act on the order.
A source, quoting the position paper, told our correspondent that, “ It needed to be stated that the Senate is constrained by a number of issues arising from the instant case, as regards the swearing-in of Senator Igbeke.
“Although, the institution of the Senate has not been served any proceedings in the case leading to the ex-parte order from a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the preponderance of legal opinions on this issue is for the Senate to tread on the part of caution so as to ensure that justice is not only done but seen to have been done.
“The issues in question which the legal pundits of the National Assembly have identified are quite germane and critical.
“One of the curious issues raised by the legal experts is the fact that the said ex-parte order was issued on only the Senate President, whereas four parties are involved in the suit brought to the court by Senator Igbeke.
“Whereas the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); the Clerk to the National Assembly; the Senate President and Prince Emeka John are all joined in the suit, only the Senate President has been ordered by the letters of the ex-parte order as contained in media reports.
“The process involves receiving a certificate of Return from INEC, getting a Code of Conduct Clearance and documentation with the Clerk to the National Assembly, where INEC, the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Clerk to the National Assembly are required to do their bits that would qualify Senator Igbeke for inauguration, it therefore becomes practically impossible for the Senate President to act without following the due process”.