Private legal practitioner and host of JoyNews’ Newsfile, Samson Lardy Anyenini, has stated that the Speaker of Parliament has no authority to exclude Members of Parliament-elect from being sworn into office without a valid legal basis.

Speaking on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, December 30, Mr Anyenini clarified that Speaker Alban Bagbin’s administrative powers do not extend to overriding or correcting a gazetted notification issued by the Electoral Commission (EC).

According to him, only a court of law holds the authority to nullify such a position.

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“The Speaker does not have any such power administratively to make any correction if he wanted to call a gazetted MP, an error of a gazette.

"It is only the court of law that can desert a gazetted MP position. Once the person is gazetted, you cannot decide to do otherwise,” he stated.

His comment comes after Alban Bagbin suggested that some gazetted MPs were not eligible to be sworn into office after a Supreme Court ruling quashed a High Court order that permitted the Electoral Commission to re-collate and re-declare winners in some of the disputed constituencies in the just-ended election.

He emphasized that the Supreme Court’s ruling rendered their declarations invalid and unlawful.

"To become a Member of Parliament, you have to be elected by the voters and you have to be declared by the Electoral Commission but you have to be sworn in by the Speaker.

"I was very clear in my mind that some of those re-collations and re-declarations were completely null and invalid. They were unknown to the law and so they were not properly called MPs-elect and not qualified to be sworn in," the Speaker said.

In light of this, Mr Anyenini argued that any attempt by the Speaker to assert such authority would create chaos and set a dangerous precedent.

Citing the legal framework, Mr Anyenini pointed out that Article 297 of the Constitution and Section 22(1) of the Interpretation Act do not grant the Speaker the power to correct or override a gazetted notification from the EC.

He stressed that such corrections can only be authorized by a court of law.

When questioned about the Speaker’s ability to use administrative powers to ask MPs whose results have been recounted and declared void to leave the chamber, Mr Anyenini acknowledged that the Speaker could issue such an order, but it would still be unconstitutional and unlawful.

“He would have the power to do so because the Marshal will be at his command. But the Marshal is also expected to obey a lawful command.

"It will be an unconstitutional and unlawful command once the person is on the list that has been submitted by the EC as gazetted to be the one elected as the MP.

"If the Speaker intends to do so, I will say, the Members of Parliament must resist the Speaker because that will be unconstitutional and unlawful,” he asserted.