Ahead of the Tuesday June 13 inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has 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 parliament.
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, who accused some elements within the APC of being allegedly behind the plot, said the move was aimed at intimidating and harassing lawmakers-elect to vote for the party’s anointed candidates.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday in Abuja, the PDP spokesman insisted that the lawmakers-elect must be allowed to elect their leaders, while decrying attempts to undermine the independence of the legislature.
Ologunagba urged the lawmakers-elect to remain steadfast in asserting their independence in the election of the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and other presiding officers.
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.
His words: “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.
“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.”
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 Speakership position was zoned to the North-West and specifically to Hon. Tajudeen Abbas with Hon Benjamin Kalu from the South-East as the deputy.
