Ihedioha To Lead House Of Representatives As Tambuwal Takes Oath As Sokoto Governor

SAN FRANCISCO, May 26, (THEWILL) –  Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, will become the chief presiding officer of the House from Friday, May 29, 2015, when the current Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, will cease to be a member of the House following his swearing in as Governor of Sokoto State.

Tambuwal contested and won the Sokoto State Governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ihedioha will as Deputy Speaker, be the head of the 7th House of Representatives till June 6, 2015, when its tenure will come to an end. House Members are expected to amend relevant House rules at a valedictory session Wednesday in order to make that happen.

The 1999 Constitution and subsisting House Rules however did not envisage the current situation as only the Speaker Pro Tempore (i.e. provisional Speaker) was provided for, in case of a removal of a Speaker by way of impeachment, resignation, death or indisposition.

But Tambuwal had told journalists that a solution had been found that would allow Ihedioha lead the House.

“I will cease to be member of the House by May 29, which means therefore there is going to be a vacuum. The Constitution never envisaged this position, so there is no provision in the Constitution to address the situation.

“But somehow, one of our colleagues came up with what may be called, in this case, not a doctrine of necessity, but an ingenuous solution to the situation or the problem. Instead of the House to go for the process of electing new speaker, since it is our rules, we will come up with a motion which will suspend that particular part of the rules, and will now allow the deputy speaker to continue in his capacity as deputy speaker and will conduct the affairs of the House before the lifespan of the House comes to an end,” he said.