Explainer: Is House of Reps Speaker equal to Senate President?

The Constitution provides some insight into the relationship between the leadership of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The controversy surrounding the recent award of national honours to the presiding officers of the National Assembly raised questions about seniority between the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Last month, the House rejected the national honour awarded to its Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, because it was lower than the one awarded to Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

In his Independence Day national broadcast on 1 October, President Bola Tinubu conferred the second highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON) on Mr Akpabio and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, while Mr Tajudeen was awarded the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR).

Members of the House saw the development as disrespectful to the House and a continuation of a perceived disregard for it.

Although President Tinubu has since reversed his decision and bestowed the GCON title on Mr Tajudeen, several members of the House, during the debate, argued that in a bicameral legislative system, the senate president and the speaker are equals.

“The Speaker and the President of the Senate are co-heads of this branch,” Philip Agbese said in a motion he brought to protest the president’s action.

Several other speakers echoed this view to support their argument regarding the national honours. But the question remains: are the two chambers equal?

The Copied American System

Nigeria adopted the American presidential system in 1979 with its bicameral legislature. The system has the Senate and the House of Representatives and two presiding officers: the Senate President and the Speaker.

However, in the United States, the vice president serves as the president of the Senate, while the Speaker is effectively the head of Congress and third in the line of succession.

Furthermore, the roles and responsibilities of the two houses are clearly defined in the US. The Senate is responsible for confirming appointments, while the House is charged with originating spending plans – the budget.

In impeachment cases, the House initiates the impeachment while the Senate conducts a trial to determine whether an impeached official be removed from office.

What Does the 1999 Constitution Say?

The Nigerian 1999 Constitution provides some insight into the relationship between the leadership of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Section 4(1) of the Constitution establishes both chambers, while Section 50(1a, b) creates the Senate President and the Speaker, each heading their respective chambers.

“They are equal,” said Jibrin Ibrahim, a professor of political science, during a phone interview. “When you look at the functions of the two chambers, they are basically equal.”

Does the Constitution declare them equal?

The Constitution places both chambers on equal footing in the lawmaking process, as a bill requires the approval of both chambers to pass.

However, the first indication of inequality is found in Section 53 of the Constitution, specifically regarding joint sessions of the National Assembly, where the Senate President is designated to preside.

“At any joint sitting of the Senate and House of Representatives, the President of the Senate shall preside, and in his absence, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall preside,” Section 53(2a) reads.

The joint session is a powerful body. For instance, according to Section 136(1), it has the authority to confirm a nominated vice president in the event of a vacancy when a vice president dies before the swearing-in.

In this hierarchy, if both the senate president and speaker are absent, the deputy senate president presides, followed by the deputy speaker.

Section 59 of the Constitution also grants the senate president a responsibility not equally shared by the speaker: resolving deadlocks on appropriation bills.

When one House passes an appropriation bill or any money bill, but the other did not after two months, the senate president is tasked with convening a meeting of the joint finance committee to resolve the differences. This duty is solely for the senate president.

Commenting on this section’s implications, Ernest Okeke, a lecturer at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Abuja, argued that the role of presiding over joint sessions is not about seniority but about maintaining order.

Due to its larger size, Mr Okeke further noted that the House could be considered stronger during joint sessions and could easily assert its influence.

“You will find that the House often takes prominence over the Senate, particularly when they go to conference,” Mr Okeke said. “There has to be a form of order, and you cannot have two people presiding. It’s about maintaining order, not determining who is higher or lower.”

The Role of the Senate President During Impeachment

In impeachment proceedings, the Constitution grants the senate president specific powers and responsibilities not shared with the speaker.

Impeachment proceedings begin when a notice of impeachment, duly signed, is presented to the senate president, as outlined in Section 143 of the Constitution. The senate president is responsible for serving the notice on the officeholder.

Additionally, the senate president is tasked with notifying the Chief Justice of Nigeria to establish a seven-member panel to investigate the allegations.

In summary, the senate president is given the power to oversee the impeachment process, a responsibility not shared with the speaker.

The speaker is only mentioned in Section 144, which involves the removal of the president by the Federal Executive Council. Even in this section, the responsibility is shared with the senate president.

Section 144 also grants the senate president the power to appoint a medical committee to examine the country’s president or vice president in the event of removal on medical grounds. Once again, this responsibility is not shared with the speaker.

“The medical panel to which this section relates shall be appointed by the President of the Senate and shall comprise five medical practitioners in Nigeria,” Section 144(3) states.

The section also grants the senate president discretionary power to compose the medical panel based on his “opinion.”

Line of Succession

Section 146 establishes the line of succession to Nigeria’s presidency. Once again, the Constitution explicitly names the senate president in the event of a vacancy due to the death or removal of the president and vice president.

The law states that the senate president shall occupy the position for three months until fresh elections are held.

“The Nigerian Constitution does not envisage a vacancy extending beyond the third line of succession. In such an extreme event, the law would rely on implied interpretation or established international standards of succession,” Henry Eni-Otu, a lawyer, told PREMIUM TIMES.