PDP caucus vows to unseat Nwoye, Udende from House of Representatives

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives on Wednesday threatened to institute a suit against Tony Nwoye (PDP-Anambra) and Emmanuel Udende (PDP-Benue) who defected to All Progressive Congress (APC) on the floor of the House.

The two lawmakers through separate letters read by Speaker Yakubu Dogara during the plenary session, announced their intentions to dump the party, owing to the factionalisation within the leading opposition party in the country.

The estranged lawmakers, alleged that they could no longer serve their electorates effectively sequel to the crisis trailing the leadership of PDP at the aborted National Convention of the party held in Port Harcourt a fortnight ago.

The three factions are headed by Ali Modu Sheriff, immediate past PDP acting National Chairman, Ahmed Makarfi and Jerry Gana.

While reacting to the decisions of the two lawmakers, Leo Ogor, Minority Leader who issued the threat notice, vowed that the party will ensure that the two lawmakers vacate their seats in the Lower Chamber.

Ogor who described their resignation letters as unconstitutional, argued that section 68(g) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) provides that any member who must resign on the platform where he/she was elected must declare his/her seat vacant.

“I have told those who care to listen that there is no division in the PDP. Clearly the PDP is one family, and in line with the Constitution in line with Section 68(g), which I quoted on the floor is clear on this.

We had a national convention, signed by then national chairman, Ali Modu-Sheriff.

“The party itself went for that convention in Port-Harcourt and you know that the party convention is the highest organ of the party. It has the power to elect and remove anyone, and we saw the decisions that were taken in Port-Harcourt. And no court of competent jurisdiction has today ruled that there is any faction in PDP. Neither is there any recognised faction.

“There is a Supreme Court ruling on this matter. I pity those young men. They really don’t know what they have done. But for me, I am a law abiding citizen and I can tell you that by tomorrow morning, my party will be headed to court once I have the Order Paper for the day. We will be in court to make sure we vacate those seats, then we go for an election to replace those interlopers. They think they can go to APC, so easily but they are wrong. So long as we have a Supreme Court ruling on this matter, I am sure, they are history,” he told BusinessDay.

Ogor who expressed shock over the development, frowned at the decision of the two lawmakers for failing to consult with the PDP caucus before making their decision public on the floor of the House.

“I was not really expecting this. I am so shocked. I am so disappointed with those young men. I would have though that they would have discussed this kind of issue with me and they know that there is no faction in the PDP. But for reasons best know to them, they are trying to create a faction.

“Like I have said, there is a Supreme Court ruling on the issue of factions, that there must be a clear division in the national executive of a party for you to say there are factions. You cannot just wake up and say, you had your on convention. And if indeed some people held a convention, they did it on their own.

“They are not even members of the national executive. None of them is. Sheriff was even in Port-Harcourt, he went through clearance. So how can they say the is a faction? In fact, there is no need to over flog this issues because by tomorrow, as soon as I have a copy of the votes and proceedings for Wednesday, my pray will head to court,” he vowed.

Earlier at plenary, Speaker Yakubu Dogara had overturned moves by some of the aggrieved members of the PDP from debating the defection of the two lawmakers.