The Board of Trustees (BoT) of
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has set up a five-member committee, including
three former senate presidents, to intervene in the dispute over the emergence
of Ndudi Elumelu as the minority leader of the House of Representatives.
The Chairman of the BoT, Walid
Jibrin, announced the decision in Abuja on Tuesday after the board’s meeting at
the party’s national headquarters.
Mr Jubrin said that the
committee, to be chaired by a former President of the Senate, Iyorchia Ayu, has
seven days to submit its report,
“We have decided to wade into the
fracas in the House of Representatives as regards the minority leadership.
“To that effect, a committee has
been formed under the chairmanship of Ayu,
“Other members of the committee
include Sen. David Mark, Sen. Ibrahim Mantu, Sen. Adolphus Wabara and Hon.
Austin Opara as Secretary of the Committee.
“They have been given a week to
submit their report to the BoT and National Working Committee (NWC).
Thereafter, a decision would be taken”.
Messrs Mark and Wabara are also
former senate presidents while Mr Mantu is a former deputy senate president. Mr
Opara is a former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.
Mr Jubrin said that the BoT, as
the conscience of the party, would always work with the NWC to avoid any form
of conflict within the party.
He said the board passed a vote
of confidence on the judiciary and expressed the hope that court decisions
would deepen democracy in the country.
“We agreed again that our party
will play the role of opposition. We are in support of the process going on at
the Supreme Court and thirdly we congratulate the judiciary for a job well done.
“We are very encouraged with the
judges and if they continue, our democracy in Nigeria will be better.’’
He called on members of the party
to remain law-abiding and work with the party’s leadership.
“So I call on all our members to
be law abiding and to ensure that our party keeps moving and to play the role
of opposition.
“We have to be very careful and
obey the party because the party is supreme. We congratulate the new leadership
of the Senate for coming out with the leaders and the minority leaders.
“I assure you that the issue of
the House of Representatives will soon be solved by the party. We must ensure
that we do not break this party. The party will continue and nobody will make
any attempt to do away with our party.’’
The party on Friday suspended Mr
Elumelu and six other members of the House of Representatives for one month
over their alleged involvement in the crisis.
Other lawmakers suspended members
are Wole Oke, Lynda Ikpeazu, Anayo Edwin, Gideon Gwadi, Toby Okechukwu and
Adekoya Abdul-Majid.
Recall that the PDP had nominated Kingsley Chinda as the Minority Leader in the House of
Representatives.
The opposition party also
nominated Chukwuka Onyema as Deputy Minority Leader, Yakubu Barde as Minority
Whip and Muraina Ajibola as Deputy Minority Whip.
The House Speaker, Femi
Gbajabiamila, however, announced Mr Elumelu as the minority leader.
Mr Elumelu from Delta State was
named alongside Toby Okechukwu as Deputy Minority Leader, Gideon Gwani as
Minority Whip and Adesegun Adekoya as Deputy Minority Whip.
Although the PDP is by far the
largest opposition party in the House, other minority parties also have
representation.
Mr Gbajabiamila of the ruling APC
said he acted based on a letter from minority lawmakers that they had elected
Mr Elumelu and the others as their leaders.
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