Ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly on Tuesday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Saturday, raised the alarm over alleged plots to arrest lawmakers-elect, who are opposed to the preferred candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the race for presiding offices of the Assembly.
The national publicity secretary of PDP, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, who accused some elements within the APC of being behind the plot, said the move was aimed at intimidating and harassing lawmakers-elect to choose the party’s annointed candidates
Recall that President Bola Tinubu and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC had zoned the Senate President position to the South-South and specifically endorsed Senator Godswill Akpabio as its candidate with Senator Barau Jibrin from the North-West as the deputy.
In the House of Representatives, the Speaker position was zoned to the North-West and specifically to Hon. Tajudeen Abbas with Hon Benjamin Kalu from the South-East as the deputy.
But, in the next Senate, Senators-elect Abdulaziz Yari, Orji Uzor Kalu, Osita Izunaso, have opposed the party’s choices, while the G-6 aggrieved aspirants have also disagreed with the party in the House of Representatives.
The inauguration of the 10th National Assembly is slated for June 13, 2023.
However, speaking at a press conference on Saturday in Abuja, the PDP spokesman, who decried attempts to undermine the independence of the legislature, insisted that the members-elect in both Houses must be allowed to elect their leaders.
Ologunagba urged the lawmakers-elect to remain steadfast in asserting their independence in the election of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
He said, “Since the PDP made its position known, feelers from public discourse indicated that some elements in the APC have become agitated and resorted to plots to influence the emergence of the leadership of the National Assembly outside the floor.
“Information at our disposal reveals attempts by such APC elements to intimidate, harass and threaten lawmakers-elect with the view to influencing the emergence of the leadership of the National Assembly.
“Reports in the public space indicate plots to arrest individuals who are considered to be strong proponents of the independence of the legislature and the right of members-elect to elect their leadership.
“The PDP notes that the independence of the legislature is a prerequisite for a virile democracy and therefore insists that the members-elect in both houses must be allowed to elect their leadership.”
He noted the provisions of the subsisting Standing Rules of both chambers of the National Assembly, which emphasise the need for the legislators to elect their leadership among themselves on the floor.
“This is the critical ingredient of constitutional democracy, independence of the legislature and principle of Separation of Powers.
“The national assembly is the symbol of the sovereignty of the people in a participatory Democracy. The people exercise such sovereignty through the choices made by their elected representatives on the floor of the National Assembly.
“Fundamental to this sovereignty is the choice of the presiding officers of the National Assembly which must not be appropriated by any group of individuals. Such will amount to a dethronement of the sovereignty of the people.
“The PDP charges the lawmaker-elect to remain steadfast in their resolve and continue to keep in mind that Nigerians expect them to assert their independence in the election of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives,” he stated.