Peoples Democratic Party will not recall six of its members in the House of Representatives who were suspended for flouting the party’s directive over leadership nominations back in July. This is authoritative.
The party had outlined indiscipline, insubordination and disobedience as the offence committed by its representatives when they chose a different set of minority leaders.
Party sources say since it is yet to receives reports of the committees it set up to probe their members activities preceding the inauguration of the House, it’s constitutionally mandatory to extend the suspension.
The party had to take the decision despite pressure from many quarters.
PDP, on July 5 suspended House Minority Leader, Mr Ndudi Elumelu, and six other members for presenting themselves to fill minority leadership in the House of Representatives.
Others suspended with Elumelu were the representative of Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency, Osun State, Wole Oke; representative of Onitsha North and Onitsha South Federal Constituency, Anambra State, Lynda Ikpeazu; representative of Ezza North/Ishielu Federal Constituency, Ebonyi State, Anayo Edwin; representative of Kaura Federal Constituency, Kaduna State, Gideon Gwani; representative of Aninri/Awgu/Oji River Federal Constituency, Enugu State, Toby Okechukwu; and representative of Ijebu-North/Ijebu-East/Ogun Waterside Federal Constituency, Adekoya Abdul-Majid.
PDP had nominated the representative of Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency, Kingsley Chinda, as the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
In a letter dated June 21, 2019, the party told the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, that the leaders had endorsed Kingsley Chinda for the post of Minority leader, Chukwuka Onyema (Deputy Minority Leader), Yakubu Barde (Minority Whip) and Muraina Ajibola (Deputy Minority Whip).
However, following the suspension, the Board of Trustees who endorsed the Elumelu leadership set up a committee chaired by a former President of the Senate President, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, to meet with the suspended lawmakers.
Members of the committee include two former Senate Presidents, David Mark and Adolphus Wabara, a former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, and a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Austin Opara, who serves as secretary.
We gathered that members of the BoT have been approached by some of the lawmakers had visited them and asked for their intervention.
Elumelu and his group have gone round to “soften” grounds among members by appealing to them to let the matter go.
Members of the National Working Committee appear to favour Chinda who is supported by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, the same state where the National Chairman of PDP hails from.
