APC can’t manage victory – PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party in Plateau State has said that what is playing out in the National Assembly is a fallout of the inability of the ruling All Progressive Congress to manage their victory in the 2015 general elections.

The Organising Secretary of the party in the state, Mr. Mike Dachom, and a member of the House of Representatives under the PDP, Mr. Edward Pwajok, also justified the action of the National Assembly in the choice of their leaders, saying that the lawmakers were only abiding by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and rules of the House.

Dachom and Pwajok told our correspondent in separate interviews in Jos on Sunday that the crisis over the leadership of the National Assembly showed lack of understanding of the basic democratic tenets by the ruling APC. They added that it also amounted to undue interference in the affairs of the legislature when a party began to dictate to lawmakers who should be their leader.

Dachom said that when they were on power problem, the PDP was able to manage this kind of crisis by discussing, agreeing and harmonising their position with their members before such issues were tabled at the National Assembly.

He said, “When Nigerians said that they voted for change, I keep telling people that change could come in different ways. This means that you can have a positive and a negative change. But it is unfortunate that the APC has started on a very bad note. This is a party that Nigerians expect so much from. When you look at the Constitution of Nigeria, it only says that principal officers of the National Assembly can only be elected by a simple majority of members of the House. It did not say by whom.

“Since they were elected as members, they have the right to elect who should lead them. So, I don’t think that the party was right in writing straight to the National Assembly. We have been in power and I don’t think this was the practice in the PDP. If we had an issue as a party, we discussed it in the House and sat down and agreed. By the time our position was presented to the National Assembly, our position would have been harmonised. By writing a letter to the National Assembly, we are sure that the intention was to manipulate the House. The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, are right, and you can see that in the APC. The 2019 has already begun to play out, which is very unfortunate. The PDP has never experienced this type of circumstance. They are now telling Nigerians that they have no respect for democratic principles. “

Pwajok, who is representing Jos East and South Federal Constituency, said, “We, as lawmakers, were only respecting the Constitution and standing orders of both Houses of the National Assembly. There is no provision that allows any party to write to the House; it is strictly an affair of the members. So, the APC should go and put their House in order and not bring their problems to the National Assembly.