On Wednesday 9 June 2023, the ninth legislative session of the Cross River State House of Assembly ended with the dissolution of the House.
The 9th session of the House started on 9 June 2019.
Section 105 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999 provides that the House of Assembly shall stand dissolved at the expiration of the 4th year or anniversary commencing from the date of the first sitting.
How will a House of Assembly after its dissolution reconvene?
The House of Assembly constitutes the legislative branch of government in the State.
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The Governor belongs to the Executive branch of government.
A member of the House of Assembly is forbidden by the Constitution from becoming to both legislature and the executive simultaneously.
When a member of the House of Assembly is appointed to the executive branch he or she has to resign his or her membership of the House first before accepting such appointment.
The executive and legislative are separate branches in theory. The principle of separation of powers among the three branches of government namely the executive, legislature, and judiciary is one of the hallmarks of Nigerian constitutionalism.
But in actual practice such compartmentalization hardly exists.
This is evident in the fact that after the dissolution of the House of Assembly, it is the Governor that is vested with the power to proclaim the holding of the first session of the House of Assembly concerned immediately after being sworn in, or after its dissolution.
Accordingly, the Governor of Cross River State, Senator (Prince) Bassey Edet Otu has proclaimed the holding of the first session on Tuesday 13 June 2023.
@ Okoi Obono-Obla
