Senators-elect and House of Representatives members-elect on the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, under the leadership of outgoing Senate President, David Mark, have resolved to cast their votes for Senator Bukola Saraki, as Senate President and Hon Yakubu Dogara, as Speaker, tomorrow.
If this decision is effected and it succeeds, it would have forced the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to taste the bitter pill the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, forced down PDP’s throat in 2011.
National Mirror authoritatively gathered in Kaduna yesterday that the decision of the former ruling party followed the outcome of APC’s mock election, which took place over the weekend where the party adopted Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila as Senate President and House Speaker, respectively.
Many PDP House of Representatives members-elect confided in National Mirror that the APC mock election to pick principal officers of the National Assembly would never stand on the floor of the green and red chambers in tomorrow’s voting, as almost all of them have concluded arrangements to vote for Dogara for fairness, equity and independence of the House.
It will be recalled that after the PDP emerged the majority party in both the upper and lower legislative chambers of the National Assembly in the aftermath of the 2011 election, the then ruling party zoned the Speakership of the House of Representatives to the South West zone, zeroing on Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola as the preferred candidate.
The defunct ACN, under the leadership of former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, mobilised opposition lawmakers to truncate the zoning arrangements of the PDP, leading to the emergence of Aminu Tambuwal and Emeka Ihedioha as Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively, a development many analysts said signaled the beginning of the end of cohesion in the PDP.
Informed inside sources disclosed to National Mirror that to the PDP, it is now payback time, as it is poised to avenge the 2011 truncation of its plan by Tinubu.
At a recent retreat for PDP lawmakers, Senator Mark was alleged to have told all PDP lawmakers-elect to remain in the party, threatening that anyone who defects would most certainly lose his seat as the full wrath of the law will come to bear on such turn coat.
He was said to have said that PDP has the numerical strength to determine what goes on in the National Assembly, hence the need for cohesion and unity of purpose among all its lawmakers.
These were said to have informed the position of the PDP senators and House members to play the spoiler for the APC, if it insists on foisting surrogates on the National Assembly.
Another source told National Mirror that “we are going to vote a neutral person, who can carry all of us along. It happened during Tambuwal and Akande Adeola’s speakership race.
“Both of them were PDP members, but when PDP took side against Tambuwal, some of us with the opposition voted for him, as he was an independent candidate against PDP’s anointed candidate.
“The same thing is likely to happen this time around. If not properly managed by the APC, what happened during Tambuwal will repeat itself on Tuesday.”
A returning PDP member of the House disclosed that Saraki would also enjoy the backing of PDP senators, including Mark.
Read More: nationalmirroronline
