Attempts by the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the House of Representatives to effect a change in the leadership of the House, yesterday, met a brick wall, after Speaker Aminu Tambuwal disclosed that cases regarding the issue of the House leadership were pending in law courts.
Hon. Suleiman Kawu (APC/Kano) had, upon the announcement that six more House members had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), raised Orders 6, Rule 19 and Oder 7 Rule 27 respectively, drawing the Speaker’s attention to the fact that the APC was now in the majority.
He, therefore, requested that the leadership of the House should change to reflect the current reality, adding that the rules of the House require that only the party with the majority of members can produce leaders of the House.
The order, if passed, would have meant that the Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, House Majority Leader, Hon. Mulikat Akande, her deputy, Hon. Leo Ogor, Chief Whip, Hon. Ishaku Bawa and Hon. Ahmed Muktar Mohammed, the deputy whip would have vacated their seats.
However, Speaker Tambuwal scuttled the move for the APC to members, when he reminded the lawmakers that cases relating to the leadership of the House were yet to be disposed of by the courts.take over from the PDP House
Subsequently, he ordered that the issue be kept in abeyance pending when the court cases would be finally determined by the courts.
Presently, the APC has the majority in the House with 181 members, followed by the PDP with 156 members. The SDP has 10 members; Labour
Party, five members; APGA, four members with PDM and Accord Party having two members each respectively.
At plenary, yesterday, Speaker Tambuwal had announced the defection of six lawmakers from the PDP to other parties.
The lawmakers who defected are Hon. Micah Umoh from the PDP to Accord Party; Hon. Peter Ali to Labour Party; Hon. Chinneye Ike to APGA.
Daily Times
