The Senate has urged the National Judicial Council (NJC) to resolve the purported removal of Benue Chief Judge, Justice Maurice Ikpambese, in line with constitutional provisions.
It also urged its Committee on Judiciary and Human Rights to investigate the matter and report back in two weeks.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the resolutions followed the adoption of a motion at plenary on Thursday in Abuja.
NAN also reports that the motion, entitled: “Looming Constitutional Crisis in Benue State’’, was sponsored by the Minority Leader, Sen. Abba Moro (PDP-Benue) and two other senators from the state.
Moro, who moved the motion under matters of urgent national importance, said the National Assembly had the responsibility as the highest law-making body in Nigeria to protect and preserve the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
According to him, it is the responsibility of the National Assembly to ensure compliance and prevent violations, while ensuring that the constitution remains the supreme law of the land.
“There is a looming constitutional crisis currently in Benue state and if not nipped in the bud, it may spring to become a great threat to democracy and rule of law in the entire country,’’ he said.
The senator said that the crisis stemmed from the purported removal of the chief judge by the state House of Assembly allegedly without recourse to the tenets of the law.
He quoted the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), as stating explicitly in Sections 153 and 271 that the National Judicial Council is the only body that authorises the appointment and removal of state chief judges.
“The constitution, in the state sections, goes further to state the procedure for appointment and removal of state judges. Anything outside the provisions of the constitution is a direct affront to the constitution and a danger to democracy.
“However, the Benue State House of Assembly, with utter ignorance of what the law is, or with intention to make a caricature of our ground norm, went ahead to pass a resolution, just by themselves, purporting to have removed the chief judge by themselves,” he said.
Moro described the assembly’s resolution as ‘a great insult to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended’.
“If not reversed, it may lead to abuse of the powerful document that provides for the entire country,’’ he said.
Sen. Titus Zam (APC-Benue), who seconded the motion, said that 14 members of the assembly objected to the purported removal of the chief judge.
Zam alleged that the speaker was acting a script, as the aggrieved lawmakers were later suspended by the assembly, saying that there was a looming constitutional crisis in the state.
In his contribution, Sen. Emmanuel Udende (APC-Benue), said that the action of the assembly on the purported removal of the chief judge was beyond its powers.
He urged the senate not to allow what he called the looming constitutional crisis in the state.
For Sen. Seriake Dickson (PDP-Bayelsa), no institution will support a flagrant violation of the constitution, stating that NJC had already issued a statement on the matter.
He said it was the responsibility of NJC to sanction any erring member of the Bench, adding that Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) had also condemned the act.
Dickson said that the motion was to show concern on the happenings in Benue, adding that no politician should be allowed to disrupt constitutional provisions.
In his remarks, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, thanked the minority leader, describing his approach to the motion as bi-partisan, having received the support of the two APC senators.
Akpabio said it was his belief that the senate’s resolution backing NJC and its committee to resolve the matter was in national interest.
