…sets for Senate presidency, House speakership race
Main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, on Thursday, said it will shock the ruling All Progressives Congress on the floor of both the Senate and House of Representatives next Tuesday, as it has struck a working arrangement with the other opposition parties ahead of the inauguration of the parliament to outvote the ruling party.
The PDP boasted that it would render the majority APC the minority during the voting on the floor of both Chambers of the National Assembly for its leadership.
The party’s spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, disclosed this on Thursday at a press conference at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja.
Three former PDP chieftains Godswill Akpabio, Orji Kalu and Osita Izunaso as well as APC stalwart, Abdulaziz Yari, are contesting the Office of the Senate President while Abbas Tajudeen, Mukhtar Batera and Idris Wase, all members of the APC are the leading contenders for the Speakership of the House.
APC leadership had earlier endorsed both Akpabio and Abbas for the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively.
After the February 25 National Assembly elections, the APC produced 59 Senators leaving the opposition parties with 50. In the House of Representatives, the ruling party boasts of 177 members while opposition parties have 182
Recall that Ismaila Mainhanchi, from Taraba State, a House of Representatives member-elect on the platform of the PDP, died shortly after his election, leaving the opposition short of one.
Ologunagba, however, did not give any indication whether the PDP would field candidates for both positions, he stated that the situation would be clearer on Tuesday when the 10th Assembly would be inaugurated.
He said lawmakers elected on the PDP platform were united, adding that the opposition parties would leverage on their numbers to take part in deciding who emerges the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Ologunagba told newsmen that the parliament, as the symbol of democracy, must be protected from anti-democratic forces.
He added that the party is working in collaboration with its members-elect in both Chambers of the National Assembly to forge a common front ahead of Tuesday’s inauguration.
He said, “With regard to the current race for the Presiding Officers of the National Assembly, it is instructive to note that the opposition parties put together to form a strong majority in the National Assembly and we are very mindful of that.
“The PDP leadership is working together with our members-elect and opposition parties in the two chambers.
“Irrespective of the ongoing and claims in the media, I want to inform you that the PDP has a clear direction which we hold close to our chest. Our members are united in that direction and it will show on the floor of both Houses of the National Assembly on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
“In all, we do not discountenance the fact that the opposition parties have the majority in the National Assembly which we are ready to deploy maximally.”
Lambasting the APC, the PDP accused the ruling party and the Independent National Electoral Commission of allegedly plotting to derail the cause of justice in the various Election Petition Tribunals across the country.
“INEC is seeking to frustrate the court and derail the cause of justice,” Ologunagba said.
The main opposition party’s spokesman also condemned what he called the attack on PDP members at Election Petition Tribunal premises in Ogun, Nasarawa and Kaduna States.
He said the attacks were, “a ploy by the APC to instill fear in the judiciary so as to derail the cause of justice.”