Senate expresses surprise over federal high court judgment

Some senators on Thursday expressed surprise at the Federal High Court judgment extending the tenure of five state governors till 2012
.
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday extended the tenures of Governors Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, Liyel Imoke of Cross River, Ibrahim Idris of Kogi, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto and Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa till 2012, following the re-run elections conducted in their respective states.
Sen. Bassey Ewa-Henshaw (PDP-Cross River) said that he was baffled by the judgment.
`If I remember correctly, the Supreme Court had already taken a decision on the matter that if you were the incumbent and you had to go for a re-run and you win, your tenure continues from where it stopped.
“This judgment is a bit baffling to me and I need to be able to look at the two judgments to know what the judges used as a foundation to arrive at their decisions,” he said.
He added: “The Supreme Court is the apex court and it is superior to the Federal High Court.
“It stands to reason that if a judgment given by the Federal High Court conflicts with that of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court takes precedence.”
In his reaction, Sen. Sidi Ali (PDP-FCT), said that although the judiciary had the power to interprete the law, it also had the duty to put things straight.
“It is the duty of the judiciary to put things straight. The judiciary must have seen a conflicting issue with the constitution, perhaps some loopholes here and there, before coming out with such a judgment,” he said.
He said that the judgment would impact negatively on the arrangements being made for the forthcoming elections in the affected states.
Speaking in the same vein, Sen. Olorunimbe Mamora (ACN-Lagos) and Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate,
said that the judgment did not take into cognisance the provisions of the Electoral Act as amended.
“The pronouncement must have been in line with the provisions of the previous Electoral Act and not in the
context of the New Electoral Act passed by the National Assembly.
“It seems to me that we are in for a rough time. Conflicting judgments is not good for our democracy.
“Conflicting court pronouncements creates crisis and instability in the system and we are constrained by time.
“We must begin to get serious in all that we do,” he said