Rivers Crisis: You Can’t Get Two-Thirds By Voice Vote – Senator Jev

Former Senator of Benue North-West, Emmanuel Orker Jev, has faulted the voice votes used to ratify President Bola Tinubu’s state of emergency in Rivers State.

Naija News reported that the Senate and the House of Representatives, using voice votes, ratified Rivers’ state of emergency and suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy and member of the House of Assembly.

In an interview on Monday, with Arise News, Senator Jev stated that the National Assembly cannot establish a two-thirds majority through voice votes.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain also faulted arguments that the House and the Senate have the right to regulate the way it would adopt in ratifying the state of emergency.

His words: “I’ve been in the National Assembly for 16 years, 12 in the House of Representatives, and at a point in my stay in the National Assembly during the House of Representatives, I was Chairman of Rules and Business. So I can say a thing or two about the rules of procedure in the House. And I’ve seen some of my colleagues come on air and try to justify the voice vote on the ground that Section 60 says you can regulate your procedure. 

“I ask myself, have they read Section 60? Section 60 says, subject to the provisions of this constitution, the Senate or the House of Representatives can regulate its procedure, including the procedure to convene and of summoning and recess. Those are almost the exact words of the Constitution. So it is subject to the Constitution, and you cannot make any regulations or even law that will conflict with the Constitution. It will not stand.

“Because the constitution says two-thirds, how do you measure two-thirds by voice vote? I mean, it doesn’t make any sense that the Constitution will talk about two-thirds and you are saying voice vote. How do you measure? Because there are three categories when you are voting. The nays, the ayes, and the abstaining. Those who are abstaining. Those are the three categories that you have. Some may be there, but they don’t want to vote. Either way, they will decide to abstain. So how do you ascertain that when you are resorting to a voice vote? 

“You cannot use the attendance because you had the quorum, and therefore nobody shouted nay, nay, and therefore it must mean that everybody has agreed with that. That is not it. We’ve done that over and over again. Wherever the Constitution says two-thirds, it means you have to resort to electronic voting or manual voting. We’ve done it in the National Assembly before.

“So with all due respect, I totally disagree with the National Assembly on this issue. They could still have gotten the result they wanted even by resorting to what the Constitution says.

“Politics is about lobbying because I’m surprised that only a few persons from the opposition openly disagree with that, because I thought it was something that would be totally resisted by opposition members.”