Rivers Emergency Rule: Lawmaker Defends Voice Vote By RepsDespite the uproar

A lawmaker Dawodu Bashiru has defended the use of voice vote by the House of Representatives in approving President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.

Despite the uproar that greeted Tinubu’s move, the House of Representatives approved the president’s action, using a voice vote. That has added another layer of controversy to the crisis in the oil-rich state.

But Dawodu, representing Oshodi/Isolo of Lagos State in the House of Representatives, has waved off criticisms over the lawmakers’ decision to go by voice vote. The member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said the House is empowered to determine the voting format

“The point that I’m making is that it’s also constitutional that the House is going to determine the way it operates on an everyday basis,” he said on Channels Telelvision’s Sunday Politics. “That is the law.”

‘The Rules Are Different’

Dawodu argued that while the lawmakers used electronic voting in some matters, he said the House of Representatives is not bound to do so in all situations.

“Well, it depends on what we’re doing in terms of the rule. I’ll give you an example. When you look at the last time, we also had electronic voting when we were going to elect the speaker [Femi Gbajabiamila]. It’s different from what happened this time when we’re going to elect the speaker [Tajudeen Abbas]. So the rules are different,” he said on the current affairs show.

“I think every day in our practice, we do voice voting. I don’t think this particular situation is different.”

Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers and suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy Ngozi Odu alongside members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have been met with stiff opposition from prominent bodies and individuals across the country.

Though President Tinubu cited pipeline explosions in the state and the need for peace for his action, the president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Afam Osigwe has condemned the move.

“That is our belief, that is what we expect the president to do, to restore him (Fubara) back to power having unconstitutionally removed him,” Osigwe said on the programme when asked if the president should recall the suspended governor.

“And that is why we do not recognise a sole administrator is the rightful person to occupy the Government House in Rivers State having been appointed unconstitutionally.

“Even when I saw him taking an oath of office, I was wondering which oath he was taking because he was taking an oath not known to the constitution, the constitution does not recognise an administrator.”