Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Ireti Kingibe has reacted after the House of Representatives voted in favour of President Bola Tinubu’s state of emergency rule in Rivers.

Commenting on the issue, Kingibe contested that the voice voting procedure used by the red chamber to okay the declaration is unconstitutitonal.

In a statement on Friday, Kingibe, who was elected under the platform of the Labour Party, said she strongly opposed the procedure adopted by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

She explained that the Nigerian Constitution “explicitly mandates that a state of emergency proclaimed by the President must be ratified by a “two-thirds majority of all the members of each House of the National Assembly”, and not through voice vote.

According to her, a voice vote, where members of the National Assembly express agreement by saying “Aye” or “Nay,” “cannot precisely measure the required two-thirds majority”.

She insisted that such a procedure is insufficient to determine a two-thirds majority in the upper and lower chambers especially for an emergency proclamation.

She noted that a “formal recorded vote is crucial to confirm the exact number of lawmakers in support”.

“The Senate Standing Orders and House Rules generally mandate a roll call or electronic voting system to accurately determine numerical compliance for decisions of this magnitude”, the statement added.