Speaker’s Ruling on Threshold Faces Legal Fire
Sierra Leone, August 18, 2026: Prominent legal firm Nicol‑Wilson & Co. has written to the Speaker of Parliament, raising grave concerns over the procedure used to pass the 1991 Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2025, arguing that the vote taken on August 10, 2026 was unconstitutional and of no legal effect.
In a strongly worded letter, Managing Partner Melron C. Nicol‑Wilson contended that Parliament wrongly relied on Section 91(1) of the Constitution, which governs ordinary parliamentary decisions, instead of the stricter Section 108(2)(b) that requires the support of “not less than two‑thirds of the Members of Parliament” for constitutional amendments.
The firm argued that the Speaker’s interpretation allowed the Bill – which seeks to amend the presidential electoral threshold from 55% of valid votes cast to 50% + 1 – to proceed based on members present and voting, rather than the total membership of Parliament. Nicol‑Wilson described this as a violation of the Constitution’s express command.
The letter further dismissed reliance on Section 94(2), which shields parliamentary decisions on internal procedure from judicial inquiry, stressing that constitutional interpretation cannot be reduced to a matter of parliamentary convenience. Citing precedents including APC & Others v Speaker & Others (2000) and Sam Sumana v Attorney‑General (2015), the firm maintained that Parliament and the Speaker remain subject to the Constitution.
Nicol‑Wilson & Co. warned that the purported passage of the amendment amounted to an “unconstitutional constitutional amendment”, insisting that the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone should declare the Bill null and void once seized of the matter.
The firm concluded: “Your decision permitting the Bill to proceed upon the lesser threshold was unconstitutional, null and void, and the purported passage of the Bill founded upon that decision is equally null, void and of no legal effect.”
The intervention comes amid heightened political debate following the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) walkout from the August 10 sitting, leaving only two of its members present. Legal practitioners and civil society groups have since questioned the legitimacy of the amendment process, with calls for judicial review intensifying.