Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, has defended Speaker Alban Bagbin’s decision to adjourn Parliament after a recall by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) caucus, asserting that the Speaker acted within his constitutional authority.
Ayariga’s defense centers on a legal discussion surrounding the separation of powers and the jurisdiction of courts in parliamentary matters, particularly in relation to the validity of parliamentary seats.
Speaking in an interview with Citi FM on Friday, November 8, Ayariga argued that the Supreme Court does not have the jurisdiction to rule on decisions made by the Speaker concerning parliamentary seat vacancies.
He stressed that Bagbin’s decision to adjourn the session was in line with his constitutional powers and did not violate any legal directives. According to Ayariga, issues regarding parliamentary seat vacancies fall under the purview of the High Court, not the Supreme Court.
By intervening in this matter, Ayariga contended, the Supreme Court exceeded its jurisdiction and ignored the judicial separation of powers outlined in the Constitution.
Ayariga emphasized that the Constitution clearly stipulates which court should handle specific legal issues, and seat vacancy disputes should be resolved by the High Court, reinforcing the independence of parliamentary procedures from judicial overreach, particularly by the Supreme Court.
“We expect the Supreme Court to pay attention to the language of the constitution and be committed to the word itself. We are not saying that there should be no judiciary review and so all these elaborate quotations affirm the principle of judiciary review. We all accept that there should be a judiciary review but which court has jurisdiction over which matter?
“And our argument is that this is a clear question of whether or not a seat has become vacant and the constitution is also clear that in any matter as to whether a seat has become vacant or not, it is the High Court that has jurisdiction and the Supreme Court ignored that. And so looking at what happened yesterday [Thursday, November 7], I did not see any instance of Speaker Alban Bagbin going contrary to the decision of any court.”
