PDP meets, fails to resolve Tambuwal, House debacle

[TGD]

 Raises panel on way forward

ALTHOUGH the Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, had announced pardon for the new leaders of the House of Representatives over their breaching of its zoning arrangement, when the National Working Committee (NWC) met yesterday, the matter assumed a different dimension.

While some leaders said the chairman's "forgiveness" of  Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, should stay, others said if they were allowed to have their way, a bad precedent would have been set.

After hours of deliberation, the NWC agreed to set up a panel to advise it on how to handle the matter. That was not all, the party also mandated Bello to meet the Senate President David Mark and Tambuwal so that the National Assembly would respect zoning in picking the other principal officers of the legislature.

The Guardian learnt that Mohammed at the meeting of the NWC held at the national secretariat of PDP in Abuja, intimated the members on the development in the House and the apology of Tambuwal and Ihedioha during their visit to the national secretariat last week.

He said the duo apologised for taking the party through pain over the election of the presiding officers of the chamber.

It was learnt that some members of the NWC condemned the action of the Speaker and deputy and stressed the need for the party to do something drastic about it to avoid a repeat of such action.

Other members however cautioned that since Bello had told Tambuwal and Ihedioha that the party had forgiven them the matter should be allowed to die. Another group said the issue should be handled in line with the PDP's constitution.

The party had zoned the position of Speaker to the South-West and Mulikat Adeola-Akande emerged as its choice, but she was defeated by Tambuwal by 252 votes to 90, even though the party asked all its members in the House to vote for the female lawmaker during inauguration of the National Assembly on June 6, 2011.

To ensure that the PDP lawmakers complied with its decision, its leaders including former chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih led by Bello went to the National Assembly on that day, yet the members opted for Tambuwal from Sokoto State, North-West zone. The PDP lawmakers also voted for Ihedioha from the South-East as Deputy Speaker instead of a candidate from the North East as the zoning arrangement of the party had provided.

The NWC meeting of yesterday was sharply divided over the next step to take. Some members pointed out the consequences of rushing into sanctioning Tambuwal, warning that it could polarise the chamber and affect the country's administration.

Some members argued that if the matter was not carefully handled, the party could suffer more losses since there were still some positions to be filled.

The PDP is expected to provide the Majority and Deputy Majority leaders as well as the Chief Whip and the deputy. The fear is that if caution is not exercised, the choices of the party for those positions might not win as the members could be tempted to go for their independent candidates.

The meeting resolved to set up a small committee headed by the National Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, to advise it on the way forward.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, merely said the meeting reviewed the political situation in the country with a view to "fine-tuning some things.  Our concern is that we want to make sure everything stabilises. We reviewed the situation in the polity."

He, however, confirmed that "there is a committee to advise the party."

Apparently apprehensive that the Senate and the Lower House might go against the zoning formula in the election of the remaining principal officers in both chambers when they return from recess, the NWC mandated Mohammed to meet with the caucuses of the party in the two chambers.

The Guardian learnt that the committee headed by Baraje met immediately after the NWC parley and resolved that Mohammed should lead the delegation to meet with the presiding officers.

The delegation is mandated to tell both chambers to work out a modality through which the North-East and the South-West would not be total losers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Source: The Guardian.