The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has on Monday issued a directive to its members-elect of the 9th National Assembly to vote the former Senate Majority Leader, Ali Ndume, and Umar Bago both of the APC, as the Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives, respectively.
The decision was reached at the meeting of the party’s National Working Committee with the lawmakers-elect in Abuja on Monday night.
Herald Nigeria gathered that, at the meeting presided over by the National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, the attendees engaged in serious calculations on whether their preferred candidates could defeat those lined up for the job by the ruling APC.
The APC had adopted both Lawan and Gbajabiamila for the positions of Senate President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively.
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But the leadership of the PDP insisted that the party must play the role of opposition in both chambers.
A source from the meeting confided in The Punch, that “We have done our calculations very well. We have also spoken with a lot of lawmakers and we have come to the conclusion that we should not just be part of the crowd that the APC is forcing on Nigerians.
“We have spoken with our lawmakers-elect and even some members from the APC in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. We have interacted with the candidates running for different positions in both chambers.
“We know that the legislature must be independent and also be free to elect their leaders. We must not be seen to be controlling this special arm of government from outside. The legislature remains the beacon of Nigeria’s democracy.”
Also confirming the party’s stance, Secondus said, “As the opposition political party, we must be seen to play responsible opposition role.Yes, none of the two presiding officers we are rooting for belong to the PDP, but we know that as a critical member of the National Assembly, we must have a say in the election of its leaders. This is the reason why we are backing both Ndume and Bago.”