By Clifford Ndujihe

LEGAL icon, Professor Ben Nwabueze, SAN, has faulted the Federal High Court’s nullification of the Re-ordering of the Election Sequence Bill, which placed the presidential election last among other amendments.

Prof. Ben Nwabueze

In its ruling, last week, in the suit brought by Accord Party challenging the validity of the Bill, the Justice Ahmed Mohammed-led court nullified the bill on the grounds that it infringed and violated the power of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC under paragraph 15(a) of the Third Schedule of the Constitution to organise, undertake and supervise elections.

Commenting on the ruling, yesterday, Nwabueze, in a statement said: ‘’The decision is erroneous and amazing because the only means by which the National Assembly could infringe or violate the powers of INEC is by ‘an Act of the National Assembly’, not by a mere Bill that has not become an Act. And by section 318(1) of the Constitution, ‘Act or ‘Act of the National Assembly’ means any law made by the National Assembly’, and by section 58(1) of the same constitution, the ‘power of the National Assembly to make laws shall be exercised by bills passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives and, except as otherwise provided by subsection (5) of this section, assented to by the President.’ So the passing of a Bill by the two Houses  – by the laborious processes of first, second and third readings, etc in each House – does not make it a law – until the Bill is assented to by the President.”

He continued: ‘’Secondly, apart from an inconsistent executive act of government, the power of the court to nullify an exercise of power by an organ of government, by the National Assembly in particular, for violation or breach of the provisions of the Constitution under section 1(3) of the Constitution, applies only to a law; it does not, repeat not, apply to a Bill that has not become law. Section 1(3) is unequivocal : ‘If any other law is inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution, this Constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall to the extent of the inconsistency be void.”