Ten more PDP Reps to join APC today – Rep

The spokesman of the House of Representatives, Zakari Mohammed has disclosed that the House is set to witness a major change in its leadership as it resumed today (Tuesday) from its Christmas and New year break.
This is as a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday restrained the legislators from going ahead with the planned change of the leadership pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Mohammed, who disclosed after a meeting with some politicians in Kaiama local government area of Kwara State in his constituency, also hinted that about an additional 10 members of House from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were set to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC)
Some 36 of them, including Zakari, had recently left PDP for APC, making the APC to emerge the party with majority members in the House.

The House spokesman said the positions of house majority leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip are likely to be affected in the expected change.

He stated: “As it stands today, as I talk to you now, we have (APC) 172, PDP is 167 and the rest which is 20 to 22 belongs to the other parties.

“So, for me, I believe that by the special grace of God, when we resume, we’re going to have other members coming to the APC when the position of the majority leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip would be repositioned to the APC.

“We have about 10 members who are coming into the APC as soon as we resume on Tuesday, January 21,” he said.
Mohammed explained that the APC decided not to contest the speakership and Deputy speakership of the house since it is now in a majority because the posts are a constitutional issue which had nothing to do with population strength.

He said: “The speakership and deputy speakership are constitution positions; you don’t necessarily have to be in the majority to be speaker in the house.
In its ruling the court presided over by Justice Ademola Adeniyi held that, “defendants in this matter, particularly the first to 11th (the House and its principal officers) are to maintain status quo pending the determination of the substantive suit in accordance with rules of the court, as well as standing rules of the House.

“It is trite law that a preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of a court over a suit be taken first in line with rules of the Federal High Court.
“It is a well established principle of law that a court of law has no power to make an order when its jurisdiction its challenged.

Justice Adeniyi said, “it is the court opinion that the power to preserve the res that is before it.
Consequently, the court held that the preliminary objection of the defendants alongside the originating summon of the plaintiff would be heard on February 3, 2014.
He pointed out that the motion for interlocutory injunction filed by the plaintiff was struck out, just as the court gave the PDP four days to file its written address in support of its originating summon.

All the defendants were equally ordered to file their replies within 48 hours, while another 72 hours was given to them to respond on points of law to the plaintiff’s counter affidavit to the preliminary objection.
Meanwhile, Senators and House of Representatives members are already spoiling for a showdown with their leadership, over the controversial issue of proposed cross-carpeting of some PDP lawmakers to the rival APC, as both chambers of the National Assembly resumes plenary today for a new legislative session , after the Christmas and New Year holiday.

Daily Independent findings on Monday from top Senate and House of Representatives sources, revealed that there is intense anger on the part of most PDP members of both legislative houses, particularly Senators, who are apprehensive that their seats will be declared vacant, should they defect to the APC, as the Senate and PDP leadership have been threatening to do.

At the upper chamber, defecting PDP Senators has vowed to resist any attempt by the David Mark leadership to nullify their seats when they cross-over.

They are equally angry and worried about the rumoured plans by the Senate leadership to resurrect, for immediate deliberation, a pending report by its Committee on Ethics, Public Petitions and Privileges, headed by Senator Ayo Akinyelure, which had earlier investigated and declared illegal, the defection of Senator Robert Ajayi Boroffice from the Labour Party (LP) on which platform he came to the Senate, to the ACN, before it merged to form APC.

The committee, in it’s report submitted in November 2012 to the Senate, had recommended that Boroffice seat should be declared vacant on the basis that his action violated Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) on matters of cross party decampment.

The Senator reportedly had not formally notified the Senate of his decision to decamp to the defunct ACN, which transmuted to APC.

Not only that, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had in a letter to Boroffice on September 13, 2012 and signed by the Commission’s scribe, Abdullahi Kaugama, impugned the Senator’s defection on the grounds that there was no division in Labour Party, according to INEC’s record and as stipulated by the nation’s apex law book, to warrant the cross-over.

DAILY INDEPENDENT