Th e Senate yesterday deplored an advertorial by Kogi state government that the upper chamber had no role in the ongoing recall process of Sen. Dino Melaye. Th is followed a Point of Order raised by the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, at plenary. Ekweremadu, who based the observation on Order 43 of the Senate Standing Rule, said his attention was drawn to a three-page advertorial by Attorney-General of the state, Ibrahim Muhammed, in a national daily. He said that in the advertorial, Mr. Muhammed faulted his (Deputy President of the Senate’s) statement on the role of the Senate in the recall of a member.
According to him, the AttorneyGeneral’s stand is a display of his ignorance on the provisions of the Constitution on the recall of legislators in the country. Ekweremadu said the advertorial was needless as it was a waste of Kogi people’s funds.
“Th e Attorney-General was responding to my contribution on the fl oor of the Senate when Sen. Dino Melaye informed the House of his constituents’ eff orts to recall him. “In my statement, I urged the constituents to apply their time to more useful venture in view of the strenuous nature of recall of a lawmaker in the country and I said the AG may not have advised them properly. “I understand that every page of the advertorial costs about N700, 000 and I learnt fi ve other papers carried it. We are looking at about N12 million of Kogi government funds. “I would have ignored him, but because of his statement in the fi nal paragraph of the advertorial, I felt it is necessary to clarify issues,” he said. Ekweremadu quoted Muhammed as saying that the Senate had no role in the recall than to “receive the certifi cate from the Chairman of INEC stating that the provisions of Section 69 of the Constitution have been complied with.” (Premium Times)
