PDP: Reps exchange blows over rebel governors visit.. Fighting erupted in the House of Representatives on Tuesday when 7 governors loyal to the New Peoples Democratic Party visited the House in Abuja. A member of the House from Bayelsa State, Mr. Henry Ofongo, was punched and shoved repeatedly by his colleagues for daring to oppose the visit. His jacket was pulled off by some members. Most of the members who crowded Ofongo, were from Kano State, including Mr. Aminu Suleiman, Mr. Baballe Murktar, Mr. Ali Madakaki and Mr. Ado Dogoa. Mr. Dakuku Peterside and Andrew Uchendu, both from Rivers State, also shoved Ofongo, preventing him from moving close to the high table. In the ensuing fracas, other members , who were in solidarity with Ofongo, attempted to throw chairs. One of the lawmakers, who lifted a chair but was prevented from throwing it, was Mr. Ini Udoka from Akwa Ibom State. Mr. Emmanuel Okon, also from Akwa Ibom State, joined the fighting on the side of Ofongo. Udoka and Okon, like Afongo, are pro- Bamanga Tukur-led National Working Committee of the PDP lawmakers. The governors in the New PDP that visited the lawmakers were Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano); Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); and Abdul-Fatai Ahmed (Kwara). They arrived the House in company with the National Chairman of theNew PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje. The Speaker of the House, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, and other principal officers received them in Room 0.28. Other principal officers in attendance were the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha; the Majority Leader, Mrs. Mulikat Akande-Adeola; the Chief Whip, Mr. Ishaka Bawa; the Deputy Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor; and the Deputy Whip, Mr. Murktar Ahmed. As Baraje was introduced and asked to state the purpose of their visit, Afongo stormed the venue with Betty Apiafi (Rivers); Bethel Amadi (Imo); Kingsley Chinda (Rivers); Bitrus Kaze (Plateau). Afongo shouted “point of order”, “point of order” and charged in the direction of the high table in a bid to register his protest. He said the meeting must not hold because he did not believe that many of the people at the venue were PDP members. But, the pro-Baraje members stopped him, shoving and throwing punches in the process. Afongo too responded with punches. When Baraje ignored the disruption and tried to proceed with his speech, more protesters trooped in, chanting anti-New PDP slogans. They sang, “No, way, no way; PDP, Tukur; PDP, Tukur.” The loud protest drowned the speech on the efforts being made to “address the culture of impunity in the PDP.” One of the protesters, Apiafi, complained that the House was supporting “illegality.” She fumed, “This is illegality; we have only one PDP, they should stop this rubbish. How can we legalise it in the House? The Speaker should not do this (receive the Baraje delegation). Kaze, who is from Plateau State, also said, “Tukur is the only known Chairman of the PDP.” A lawmaker from Kogi State, Mr. Tajudeen Yusuf, described the visit as “unnecessary” because it would worsen the party crisis. Outside the venue, Afongo told reporters that the presence of a “large number of non-PDP members” at the meeting angered him. He said, “Baraje is a leader in the party. If he is coming to address us, no problem. “But, I saw a crowd and non-party members among them. I wanted to ask why and they started pushing me and shouting me down.” Responding to Baraje’s speech, Tambuwal carefully avoided the factional crisis in the party. Rather, he berated politicians for being on a voyage to destroy democracy. The Speaker observed that self-interest, rather than the welfare of the majority of Nigerians, was uppermost in the minds of politicians. He said he could not comprehend why politicians, who constitute less than “25 per cent” of the country’s population, were taking the majority for a ride. Tambuwal added. “We are deeply concerned about recent political developments in our country, especially in the PDP. “Democracy belongs to all Nigerians and not to politicians alone. Many people died fighting for democracy. This is a reason we must conduct ourselves according to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We must abstain from heating up the polity unnecessarily because of our personal ambitions.” Earlier, Akande-Adeola had welcomed the delegation, expressing hope that the visit would be the “beginning of the end to the crisis in our party.” The meeting ended hurriedly as tension escalated. Some pro-Baraje lawamakers later addressed journalists after the meeting and condemned the disruption of the proceedings by those loyal to the Tukur-led PDP. Led by Uchendu,they explained that the delegation merely came to brief their loyalists on the steps taken so far to reform the party. He said, “It is most unfortunate that some people came to disrupt the meeting. This is the type of lawlessness that takes place in the PDP.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 07:25:42 +0000
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