The Senate will resume conversations on the still-unread letter of the 11 lawmakers who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) next week Tuesday, after mandating its presiding officer, David Mark on Wednesday to seek legal advice on the matter.
The resolution was made after a closed-door session of the senators. The Senate also suspended plenary for two days to allow its committees begin work on the 2014 Appropriation Bill, having scaled second reading on Tuesday.
Speaking with journalists after the session, which was abridged to allow APC Senators participate in their party’s registration, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe said plenary was suspended for two days, while Mark was allowed to seek legal advice on the interpretation of the Constitution and the Senate rules relating to the matter.
“The Senate had a closed-door session this morning on matters that affect the wellbeing of this country. I can affirm to you that the interest of the country was put first in the discussion and the discussions were fruitful”, Abaribe said.
“I can confirm to you that on the matter of those who want to defect, the issue was also discussed during the closed-door session and it was resolved that the Senate, the senate president in particular, would have to seek further legal advice because of the serious legal issues that was thrown up during the discussion.
“The legal issues relate to both the interpretation of the Constitution and the interpretation of our rules within the Senate. More time was given for further consultation. It was also resolved that when the Senate resumes plenary on Tuesday that Senate will look into the issue. What happens about the question of the Constitution and Senate Rules is that they are subject to the interpretation by whoever is interpreting it”.
Meanwhile, Minister of Information, Labaran Maku believes that the spate of defections of PDP members to APC is merely a loss in weight that will turn out a gain its strength.
Speaking with State House correspondents after Wednesday’s edition of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan, he described the party defectors as members who were never really interested in the party.
“No party will be happy to lose its members to any party, because every party will wish that it is able to return all its members because your members mean that you have number. No club, no company, nobody wants to lose a member. So, it is not something you beat your chest and say you are happy about when your members leave”, he admitted.
“But, I have always made a point that sometimes, you need to lose weight to get strength and that’s exactly what has happened in PDP. When a number of these people are leaving PDP, I say the party will be healthier in the long run.
“First of all, if you look at those that have left the party, some of them are those that have caused all the headaches in the party. They have been the ones that attacked the party; they are very quarrelsome; they have oversized egos. Some of them cannot stay under the same roof with anybody for one week without the top blowing off”.
Maku added most of the defectors already have a reputation for migration and lack of belief in the concept of party ideology.
“They keep migrating from one place to another. A party needs to have members that believe in its ideology, that settle down because they believe in the party”, he said.
“A party is not just a market for people to stand for elections. For a number of people who are leaving, they see the party as a market for election. A number of them will come in because they want to stand for election and if they lose, they run out”.
