Crisis Brews in PDP over Principal Officers in National Assembly

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu

Wike, Ekweremadu differ with Jonathan, wife over Sekibo

Akpabio seeks Minority Leader’s slot against Senate rules

James Manager, longest serving senator, may lose out

Onyebuchi Ezigbo  in Abuja

As the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) continues to grapple with the challenges posed by the allocation of the principal positions of the National Assembly, a similar crisis is brewing in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Expectedly too, the situation in the PDP appears to have pitched some influential leaders of the party, including the immediate-past president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, against the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu as well as Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

While both Ekweremadu and Wike are against the choice of Senator George Sekibo as Minority Leader as suggested by the former first family, the immediate-past governor of Akwa-Ibom State and now senator, Godswill Akpabio, has thrown his hat in the ring for the same position.

But Akpabio’s ambition, which is at variance with the Senate Rules on ranking is almost having the blessing of majority of the senators from the South-south, the zone the position of Senate Minority Leader has been allocated. 

Curiously, the chances of Senator James Manager, who had hitherto been touted as the Senate Minority Leader are looking dim as financial muscle appears to have laid a path ahead of the final decision that will be announced when the senate resumes plenary on July 21.

A senator from the South-south zone confided in a team of journalists that the brewing crisis was ‘capable of weakening the PDP ahead of its role as a viable opposition party in the years ahead’.

“We are seeing the APC crisis now, ours is also in the making because before July 21, if we too don’t sort ourselves out, we can at best say that what is capable of weakening the PDP ahead of its role as a viable opposition party in the years ahead may have been planted.

“We all thought the issue of Senate Minority Leader has been laid to rest until the DSP (Deputy Senate President) called us for a meeting in his house where he sort peoples opinion on the propriety or otherwise of selecting Senator Ita Enang for the position.

“I think it was from there the former Akwa-Ibom governor got the feeling that if the matter has to be revisited, then he would take a shot at it, but he doesn’t know that his ambition is against the rules of the senate as regards the selection of its principal officers.

“Before then, we were all facing the challenge of the suggestion by the former president and his wife that we should consider Sekibo who is from Rivers State but the duo of Ekweremadu and Wike kicked against it.

“From all indications, if we don’t step in on time, our earlier decision backing James Manager may fail because you know what money can do in politics; we can’t say money won’t work in this circumstance.

“Although Akpabio has argued that both Manager and the House Minority Leader-designate, Hon Leo Ogor, being from Delta state, cannot hold the two positions simultaneously, we have also told him that since the PDP is in unusual circumstances, we can allow that to fly.

The opposition PDP on Tuesday, zoned minority positions in both chambers of the National Assembly.

The party’s national publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh who disclosed that at the end of its meeting, the National Working Committee (NWC) zoned the Senate Minority Leader to South-South while the North-central will produce Minority Whip.

Deputy Minority Leader and Deputy Minority Whip go to North-east and South-west respectively, while in the House of Representatives, PDP said it accepted the choice of the members who has already chosen Hon. Leo Ogor from South-south as Minority Leader.

Metuh however, said the North-west will produce the Minority Whip while the South-east and North-east will produce Deputy Minority Leader and Deputy Minority Whip respectively.

He said the party expects that, in consonance with the provision of the Standing Rules of the National Assembly, members will use their various zonal party caucuses to chose party principal officers to enable PDP provide effective opposition in the National Assembly.

“We have directed them to note that in accordance with the practice and convention of our party, the nomination process should take into consideration ranking, gender and religious sensitivities,” he said.

However, baring any last minute switch of fate, indications emerged yesterday that Akpabio might be nominated to the position of Minority Leader in the eighth Senate.

THISDAY gathered from sources at the National Assembly that Akpabio’s colleagues within the South-south Senate caucus of the PDP might have settled for the former governor as their choice of the Senate Minority Leader.

Although there were others who are interested in the position, but the source said Akpabio appeared to be having an upper hand following the perceived leadership qualities during his stint as the chairman of the PDP governors forum.

PDP rose from a meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) Thursday, to approve the zoning structure for the party’s share of principal offices.

Under the zoning structure, the party said the South -South is to produce Minority Leader,  Minority Whip (North-central), Deputy Minority Leader            (North-east) while Deputy Minority Whip  will emerge from the South-west.

Similarly, the party zoned the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives  to the South-south, Minority Whip (North-west), Deputy Minority Leader (South-east) and Deputy Minority Whip (North-east).

In approving the zoning formula, PDP advised its lawmakers to use the various zonal party caucuses to choose the party’s principal officers in consonance with the provision of the National Assembly Standing Rules.

It charged the legislators to ensure that they provide effective opposition in the respective chambers of the National Assembly