Lift Elumelu, Others’ Suspension Now – PDP House Caucus Fumes

BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s House of Representatives Caucus has warned the Party’s leadership against actions capable of distracting and impacting negatively on their fortunes as the country’s main opposition party

The aggrieved members have therefore urged the party hierarchy to back off by rescinding its decision to suspend the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu and six other lawmakers for the sake of peace and harmony within the party.

The Caucus’ position is against the backdrop of PDP’s slammed suspension order on the Minority principal officers, Elumelu, Toby Okechukwu, Gideon Gwani, and Adekoya Abdul-Majid as Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader, Whip and Deputy Whip as well as members, Wole Oke, Lynda Ikpeazu and Anayo Edwin for shunning the invitation extended to them by the National Working Committee (NWC) in Abuja.

Crisis for the affected members came to the fore last week following Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila  announcement of the Minority leadership for the lower legislative chamber.

At a briefing in Abuja on Monday, the House Caucus insisted that allowing the suspension to stand, with all contending issues yet to be resolved will adversely affect the PDP’s fortunes going forward.

The Caucus, which passed a vote of confidence on the Minority Leadership and Speaker Gbajabiamila, said it is intriguing that only seven of the 111 members who endorsed the Hon Elemulu-led Minority officers that were singled out for the so-called suspension by the party’s leadership.

According to them, it has also become imperative for all well-meaning party elders and concerned stakeholders to intervene for the stability and internal cohesiveness of the country’s main opposition party.

They maintained that only an all-inclusive dialogue based on equity and fair-play by the NWC can lead to a speedy, fair and amicable resolution of the issues at stake.

Speaking at the media briefing, Legor Idagbo, representing Bekwarra/Obudu/Obanliku Federal Constituency of Cross River State, said though the Caucus is ready to work with party leadership, it should be noted that the Nigerian parliament has, since the inception of the current democratic dispensation in 1999, demonstrated its independence with all forms of outside interference and coercion failing to achieve any useful purpose among the lawmakers.

Hon Idagbo  said; “The parliament since 1999 to date has remained independent and not coerced”, Hon Idagbo said, even as he debunked claims that caucus members were induced with N1m each to support the Elumelu-led group.

“We call on the National Working Committee (NWC) of our party to rescind its decision of suspending the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu and six others, who through no fault of theirs were nominated and elected by majority of members of minority parties.”

Further putting the issues in perspective, the lawmaker said: “Were an offence to have been committed in this process, the perpetrators would be all 111 of us and not seven members as were suspended by our great party.

“We, the minority parties, hereby pass vote of confidence on the newly constituted minority Leadership because our decision to constitute the Minority Leadership of the 9th House of Representatives is in consonance with the House Standing Order, that is, Order 7, Rule 8 which is derivative of Section 60 of the 1999 constitution as amended.

“We stand by our decision. We stand by our leaders. We use this opportunity to sue for peace and to state that we are available for further discussions with the NWC of our party on how to resolve these issues and move our party forward”, the Caucus said.

They therefore urged well-meaning party leaders, particularly those with legislative experience to intervene on their behalf and lay the matter to rest and avoid anything that could adversely affect the future fortunes of the PDP.

Dismissing allegations of monetary inducement, the Caucus spokesperson said; “I have no information about that and I speak on good authority, I don’t think N1m can induce any member in the National Assembly. And I’m sure that’s an insult to members of the National Assembly. If you had said N1 billion now, I would have started asking questions.”