A report credited to Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu that some members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) approached him, expressing intentions to join the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday created a stir on the floor.
Elumelu at the recent National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the PDP, reportedly made the allusion to that effect, which he was quoted to have explained that the development was during last week’s closed door session of the House, called to discuss the lingering security challenges facing the nation.
However, during plenary on Thursday, Hon. Sada Soli Jibia from Katsina state while citing Order 6 Rule 2 and 4 of the House’s Standing Orders, drew attention of the House to a media publication on the matter, accusing the minority leader of inaccurately reporting what transpired during the closed door session, a development he said breached his personal privileges as a member.
“At the NEC meeting of the PDP, the minority leader made a statement that is false. It is untrue. That wasn’t what the Speaker reported from the executive session. It breaches the Legislative Houses Privileges Act. That was also a breach of my privilege,” he stated.
Responding to his submissions, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila said the lawmaker must be aware that both sides must always play politics, concluding that his observations were noted.
But the matter took a new twist when Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu while citing another order, insisted that no privilege of any member of the House was breached by Elumelu. In his argument, he said the report in reference only said ‘some members approached’ him (Elumelu), while also not explicit on where and when the said expression of intention to defect by the APC members took place.
Deputy Speaker Idris Wase in his intervention at this point accused Elumelu of “completely misinterpreting” what happened during the executive session. “There was nowhere and a time such thing was discussed, so he shouldn’t have gone there to report what did not happen during the executive session,” he stressed, insisting that “our privileges have been breached”.
In his final remarks, Gbajabiamila cautioned against such statements, as members were all working together to build Nigeria. “We should all be careful of our utterances, we know there is freedom of expression. We should not get carried away because we are in a party caucus. Let’s put this matter to rest”, he said and hit the gavel.
