Senior Advocate of Nigeria and rights activist, Femi Falana, has said it is not mandatory for either of the two chambers of the National Assembly to have a mace before convening for plenary.
Falana said this during the unveiling of a new 44 feet statue in memory of the 80th posthumous birthday of Chief Gani Fawehinmi, at Ojota, Lagos, yesterday.
The mace is the symbol of authority of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Last week, suspected thugs forced their way into the chamber, during plenary.
Seconds later, the thugs ran out of the chamber with the mace. This act caused pandemonium in the National Assembly.
They left the National Assembly with the mace in a black Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV). The mace is the symbol of authority of the parliament.
One of the security personnel at the entrance of the National Assembly said the thugs told him and other officers they were with a senator.
“We tried to stop them, but they told us they were with him, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege,” he said.
A spare mace had to be provided before the lawmakers reconvened.
Regardless, in a statement, yesterday, Falana said there is no part of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which stipulates that the instrument is a must for legislative sitting in Nigeria.
Falana said by virtue of section 54 of the constitution, either of the two houses of the National Assembly is “competent to sit and conduct proceedings,” once the quorum of the members is formed.
The quorum is one-third of all the lawmakers in either of the chambers.
“Nowhere in the constitution is it expressly or impliedly provided that a mace shall be provided before the Senate or House of Representatives or any other legislative house can sit and conduct legislative business,” Falana said.
The Nigeria Police Force said they are still working to arrest the eight men who stormed the Senate and ran away with the mace.
The suspects were allegedly brought to Abuja from Delta State.
A monitoring committee, made up of detectives, raised by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to probe the matter has reportedly retrieved the video clips of the invasion for analysis.
It is expected that the video clips will assist in tracking down the suspects.
The monitoring committee is headed by a Commissioner of Police.
Head of the Sergeant-At-Arms and other federal security units attached to the National Assembly may be quizzed by the police in the course of the ongoing investigation,” it was gathered.