PDP To Reps Leadership: Forcing Committees on Holidays to Halt Investigation is Criminal
Berates APC Reps for patronizing corruption
BY GRACE ANYANWU, ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday said that the unnecessary and unwarranted resort to invectives, name calling and slurs by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led leadership of the House of Representatives, instead of addressing issues, has only confirmed its position that corruption is fighting back from within the legislative and executive government circles of the APC administration.
The Party therefore said that it insists that the APC leadership of the House shutting down the sitting of committees carrying out investigation on the executive in order to cover corruption in the APC administration and shield corrupt leaders.
This is as the PDP asserted that no amount of vituperations, hauling of insults, threats and secret phone calls from the APC leadership of the House of Representatives and its agents will make it jettison its stance against the deliberate design to frustrate the legislative committees and put a wedge in the way of the fight against corruption.
It noted that it is, to say the least, disgraceful that instead of owning up, apologizing to Nigerians and allowing the committees to continue with their investigations, the APC leadership of the House is rather laboring to divert attention from its culpability in patronizing corruption.
The PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan said it believes that when matters of national interest such as investigation of allegations of corruption are before the legislature, no attempt, overtly or covertly, should be made to undermine or sabotage them, let alone ordering a forceful shutdown of investigation.
According to the Party; “Indeed, nothing in parliamentary rules makes it sacrosanct that legislative committees cannot sit during parliamentary recess.
“The attempt by APC leadership in the House to mislead Nigerians with skewed interpretations that suit its purpose of frustrating the fight against corruption is completely condemnable and amount to a huge disservice to Nigerians.
“In fact, it is on record that during the days of PDP leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly, even when the House of Representatives is on recess and crucial national issues such as the on-going investigations emerge, the leadership would recall legislators and relevant committees to attend to them.
“We in the PDP stands with Nigerians to insist that if indeed the Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila-led leadership is not sabotaging the basic responsibility of the House of Representatives, which is its oversight on the executive, it should immediately retract the statement issued by the House Majority Leader, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, apologize to Nigerians and allow the committees to continue their investigations without the interferences by the leadership of the House,” it said.
