A quick intervention by the leadership of the Speaker of the House of Representatives on Wednesday doused tension between the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress members.
The PDP Caucus in the House was bent on enforcing “relevant aspects” of Monday’s judgement by an Abuja High Court, which said the defection of 37 PDP lawmakers in the House to APC is unconstitutional.
The APC Caucus in the House had on Tuesday opposed the judgment on the grounds that the judge granted “reliefs” not sought by the PDP in its originating suit.
The caucus had argued that the “import of the judgment is that the lawmakers cannot remove the leadership of the House, nothing more, nothing less.”
Speaker Aminu Tambuwal got wind of the secret plot by PDP and immediately called for an executive session soon after the sitting began...
At the executive session, Tambuwal preached peace to both sides. The PDP Caucus members were told to in all issues place “national unity above party affiliation.”
Both camps were advised to allow the court cases run their full course rather than trying to interfere. The PDP caucus still resolved to meet again after the sitting to review the decisions taken at the executive session in a bid to decide on the way forward.
The Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Victor Ogene, later confirmed at a news conference that the executive session was devoted to the court judgement.
According to him, the session observed that it was the tradition of the House not to interfere with ongoing cases in courts. Ogene said, “We decided to talk (frontally) among ourselves; to get each other’s viewpoint.
“We also talked on the need to allow the different court cases on defection to run their full course. We have had instances where members who defected earlier before now are still participating in the activities of the House. So, let us allow the cases to run their full course.”
Credit: Olufamous
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