The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Saturday, warned of alleged plots to arrest lawmakers-elect who oppose the preferred candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the race for the presiding offices of the Assembly, ahead of the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly on Tuesday.
Asserting that some APC members were behind the scheme, PDP national publicity secretary Hon. Debo Ologunagba claimed that the action was taken to intimidate and harass lawmakers-elect into supporting the party’s nominated candidates.
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Sen. Godswill Akpabio was specifically backed by President Bola Tinubu and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC as its candidate, with Sen. Barau Jibrin from the North-West serving 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, the PDP spokesman stressed that the members-elect in both Houses must be permitted to choose their leaders while denouncing attempts to undermine the independence of the legislature at a press conference on Saturday in Abuja.
Ologunagba advised the incoming members to insist adamantly on their independence when choosing the Senate President and the House of Representatives Speaker.
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.
