The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Working Committee (NWC) will meet with its members in the Red Chamber on Monday in Abuja.
This follows escalating tensions within the Senate minority caucus over the selection of key officers.
The conference, held ahead of the National Assembly’s return to plenary on July 4, aims to oppose claimed efforts by the Senate leadership, led by the All Progressives Congress (APC), to infiltrate the Minority Caucus and impose a pliant leadership on it.
There have recently been rumors of Senate leadership attempting to impose its preferred leadership within the Senate minority group. PDP senators, on the other hand, have vowed to vigorously reject such actions.
According to many sources within the PDP National Secretariat in Abuja, the NWC has been in conversations with both PDP and other minority party senators, with the goal of establishing a robust Minority Leadership that corresponds with the Nigerian people’s aspirations.
A prominent party official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated, “The upcoming meeting will provide an opportunity for senators to address internal disputes and establish a fair distribution of positions, while considering the interests of other minority parties.”
“Our NWC has been diligently working behind the scenes to ensure a strong Minority leadership in both chambers of the National Assembly. We have been engaged in talks with our senators and members of the House of Representatives. The purpose of Monday’s meeting is to iron out any remaining issues and resolve disagreements so that our party and lawmakers can present a unified front on the matter of Minority Leadership in the National Assembly,” the official added.
Another source accused Senate leadership of attempting to split the minority caucus in order to weaken the opposition within the Red Chamber.
“As you may know, according to the Senate’s Rules, the responsibility of choosing the Minority leadership lies exclusively with senators from the Minority Parties. The Rules do not grant any role to the APC-led leadership in the selection of the Minority Leadership,” the source explained.
“The Senate President’s role, as outlined by the Rules, is simply to announce the name forwarded to him by the Minority Caucus. He has no authority to announce any other list apart from the one provided by the Minority Caucus. We believe that the Senate President, the distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio, will adhere to the Rules. He is an experienced politician, and we expect him to be guided accordingly. Any deviation from adhering to the Rules will be met with strong resistance from us,” the source emphasised.
