– The Senate recently summoned constitutional lawyer, Prof Itse Sagay, for saying they have questionable characters
– A senior lawyer, Sebastine Hon, has explained why the Senate lacks the power to summon Professor Sagay
Sebastine Hon, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, says the Senate does not possess the powers to summon Prof Itse Sagay, who he called a private individual.
Sagay is accused of saying the Senate is made of people with questionable characters
ZENITHBLOG.com reports that Sagay is the chairman of the Presidential Committee Against Corruption (PCAC) and was recently quoted as saying the Senate is made of questionable character. For this, he was recently summoned.
The Nation reports that Hon spoke on Thursday, March 30, 2017.
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In a statement, the SAN said the invitation is unconstitutional.
“While those comments are not salutary, they do not merit an invitation to appear before the Upper House.
“A similar situation had played out in the 1980s, in the case of Senate of the National Assembly vs. Tony Momoh ((1982) FNLR 307. In this case, Prince Tony Momoh had published in the Daily Times of 4/2/1980 an article the Senate of the 2nd Republic considered was injurious to its image.
“A Senate Committee then invited Prince Momoh to appear before it to ‘clarify’ those press comments. Prince Momoh challenged the invitation in court.
“Even though the Court of Appeal held that Prince Momoh’s action was premature – since the Senate had not taken steps to compel his attendance – it laid down general principles regarding exercise of oversight functions by the National Assembly, thus:
1. The powers of the National Assembly to investigate are not general but are limited to the executing or administration of laws enacted by the National Assembly and the disbursement and administering of moneys appropriated by it. In other words, the constitutional provisions granting oversight functions do not constitute the National Assembly as a universal “Ombudsman” with power to invite and scrutinise the conduct of every member of the public.
2. The powers of the National Assembly in this regard are further circumscribed and limited by subsection (2) of the equivalent of section 88 of the 1999 Constitution – in that the National Assembly can only invite members of the public when it wants to gather facts for the purpose of enabling it to make laws or amend existing laws.
3. Since from the resolution, Exhibit A, and the proceedings of the Senate, Exhibit C, the purpose of the invitation was to show resentment for Prince Momoh’s affront in daring to publish a matter against the Distinguished Senators rather than for the stated constitutional purposes, the invitation was not proper.
“The same Court of Appeal restated these principles in El Rufai vs. House of Representatives (2003) FWLR (Pt. 173) 162, wherein the present Governor of Kaduna State, then Director-General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) upon being investigated by an ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives, wrote and circulated certain offensive materials against the House.
“Upon being invited for ‘clarification’ of those comments, he rushed to court; and the Court of Appeal, as stated above, restated the principles in Momoh’s case.
“Indeed, the Nigerian Supreme Court also, in the case of Attorney-General of Abia State vs. Attorney-General of the Federation (2006) All FWLR (Pt. 338) 604 at 674, brevi manu, circumscribed the oversight functions of the National Assembly in the following words: Oversight functions can only be exercised within the law making powers of the National Assembly. The functions are not at large and must be exercised within the provisions of the constitution.
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“This line of judicial thinking in Nigeria agrees with the position of the US Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, in a long line of cases – Watkins vs. United States, 354 U.S. 178, 187 (1957); Townsend vs. United States, 95F 2d 352, 361 (D.C. Cir. 1938); McGrain vs Dougherty, 716 Ed. 590, etc.
“In conclusion, while I agree that Prof. Sagay’s comments against the distinguished senators were inappropriate, I make bold to state that the Senate lacks the constitutional competence to summon him to appear before it merely on account of those comments.
“Let me also add that the legislature should be cautious in extending summonses to persons under its constitutional oversight functions. If it engages with personalities just because they have made snide comments against it, this will amount to the Legislature reducing its constitutional as an arm of government.
“The Legislature qua the National Assembly should as much as possible conduct itself in such a way as not to be seen to be quarrelsome or petty,” Hon said.
Meanwhile, ZENITHBLOG.com recently reported a rally in support of President Muhammadu Buhari. Watch the video here:
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