Democratic Party, PDP, in the House of Representatives, last
December, to All Progressives Congress, APC, fear of
leadership change has gripped members of the ruling party in
the House. As members of the House get set to resume after
nearly three weeks' Christmas break, Nigerians should expect
drama over the likely change in the leadership of the House.
Since the defection of 37 PDP members to the opposition
APC which left the former with 171 legislators as against
latter's 172, there have been reports of imminent change in
the House leadership. The defection has constituted a threat to
the majority advantage the PDP has enjoyed in the House
since 1999. The defection followed the crisis that has rocked
the party since August 31, 2013 when seven of its governors
staged a walk-out from its mini-convention in Abuja.
JOKE
This development resulted in the formation of the 'New PDP'.
Consequently, the party leaders made efforts to make peace
with the warring party stalwarts.The crisis took a twist when
five out of the seven aggrieved governors alongside their
'New PDP' leader Abubakar Kawu Baraje announced their
'merger' with the opposition APC.
The 37 ex-PDP lawmakers from Kano, Sokoto, Kwara,
Rivers, Bauchi and Katsina States followed their governors in
the 'New PDP' to APC.
The PDP leadership moved to declare the seats of the defected
lawmakers vacant through a court action.
This was after the party had failed to get Speaker Aminu
Waziri Tambuwal to declare the lawmakers' seats vacant on
the strength of an Abuja High court restraining order.
One of the defected members, Hon Yakubu Dogara (APC,
Bauchi), described the PDP's move to declare their seats
vacant as a joke. "That's the depth of decay we have sunk to.
The rule of law means nothing in the strange democracy we
practise here. Take a look at Section 68(1) (g) of the
Constitution which the party is referring to. The power to
declare defecting members' seats vacant is solely vested in the
presiding officer, the Senate President or Speaker of the
House, as the case may be.
"It's in black and white. Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution
does not mention INEC, the courts or any party for that
matter. It's a demonstration of crass ignorance for PDP to
have written to INEC or even go to court to have defecting
members' seats declared vacant. Thank God INEC swiftly
replied that it lacks the constitutional powers to do so," he
said.
Dogara added, "Even in these days of black market
judgments, it will be near impossible for any judge to
interpret section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution which does not
mention the court as conferring the powers to declare
defecting members' seats vacant. That will amount to judicial
rascality of the highest order."
Despite the fact that APC now enjoys simple majority in the
House, it requires about nine more lawmakers to take over the
leadership.
MORE DEFECTORS
But ahead of the House's return to legislative business on
Tuesday, there are strong indications that more PDP members
may join APC.
A source told Sunday Vanguard that the APC was expecting
about 20 more defectors in the House from Benue, Katsina,
Kaduna, Jigawa, Niger,Kano, Taraba, Plateau and Adamawa
states among others.
If Speaker Tambuwal defects to the APC and the party is able
to garner the required 181 members to topple PDP in the
House, PDP will be left with no option than to settle for
positions such as minority leader, deputy minority leader,
minority whip and deputy minority whip.
Some APC members are said to be adamant that Deputy
Speaker Emeka Ihedioha is removed as soon as the party
attains majority status in the House. But deputy spokesman of
the House, Rep Victor Afam Ogene (APGA, Anambra),
assured that the lawmakers had no plan to remove Ihedioha.
"The report that the deputy speaker will be removed when we
resume is the handiwork of fifth columnists trying to cause
crisis among members before resumption. People should not
forget that besides political affiliations, we all belong to a
group called House Project which saw to the emergence of
the current House leadership.
"What will happen is a seamless transfer. As soon as the party
with the majority members notify the speaker that they have
majority- that is if the APC notifies the speaker that they now
have the majority number and he cross-checks with the clerk,
the change will be immediate.
"Resignation, death or impeachment are the only ways that a
vacancy can occur in the office of the speaker or deputy or
indeed, any other principal officer's position," Ogene said.
Also, the chairman of the House Committee on Rules and
Business, Albert Sam-Tsokwa (PDP, Taraba), said, last week,
that the defection to APC would not affect the chamber
leadership composition, saying "the leadership of the House
of Representatives remains intact, having enjoyed and is still
enjoying the confidence of the members."
But lending credence to the defection of more PDP members
to APC, Hon Dogara said, in an interview with Sunday
Vanguard, that more members would join them as APC was
the party to beat.
Meanwhile, the deputy majority leader in the House, Hon.
Leo Ogor (PDP, Delta), doused the fear of leadership change,
describing it as a "mere storm in a tea cup."
Ogor, who insisted that PDP was the majority party in the
House, said, "We are not jittery and we are ready to combat
whatever situation we meet on the floor of the House, because
we are still in majority.
"We are not scared of any plan or whatever grand design to
change the leadership because they can't do anything. We are
still in control of the House leadership as far as I'm
concerned, and there is no shaking.
"We have all the necessary technical know how to handle the
situation, legally and otherwise. For instance, the decampees
went to a competent court of jurisdiction to seek an injunction
that the status quo should remain without necessarily
declaring their seats vacant.
"They do not own any seat. The seat belongs to PDP not to
individuals; that is what they do not know. Those who
defected are technically still members of the PDP until a court
of competent jurisdiction declares otherwise. We do not need
a rocket scientist to interpret the Constitution to us on this
issue. "
CREDENCE
To give credence to the threat to unseat them by the emerging
scenario in the House, Deputy Speaker Ihedioha, Majority
Leader Mulikat Akande-Adeola, Ogor and other principal
officers of the House in the PDP went to court on Monday to
stop any attempt by the APC lawmakers to remove them.
This is a pointer to the fact that all may not be well as the
House resumes in another 48 hours.
Via: Vanguard
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